Uso do hidrogel agrícola e adubação foliar no cultivo e produção da palma forrageira

Abstract

The forage palm (Opuntia and Nopaleae) presents a historical picture of low performance in some regions of the semiarid zones, with the death of cladodes and plants being common, it was observed, however, that the water supply is capable of reversing this situation and enabling a satisfactory performance of this cactus, however, the high cost and low water availability are obstacles to the adoption of palm irrigation. With this in mind, the objective was to evaluate the effect of the moisture-absorbing polymer on the culture of the palm, combined with the nutritional supply via foliar fertilization, on the structural, productive and chemical characteristics of the forage palm. The palm variety used in the experiment was the Mexican Elephant Ear, in the double-row playing card planting system, with spacing of 1.50 X 0.5 X 0.15 m. Three treatments and six repetitions were used, in a completely randomized design. The treatments were distributed as follows; FS treatment: Conventional fertilization via soil, without adding the hydrogel; - FFH treatment: 6 grams of polymer per liter of water + fertilization with urea and potassium chloride exclusively in liquid form; - FF treatment: The recommended dose for fertilization with urea and potassium chloride (KCL), was made available exclusively in liquid form. The interval of application of fertilizer doses was 90 days in all treatments. The variables analyzed were: Green and dry forage mass (MV and MS), dry matter content, length, thickness and width of cladodes, plant height and chemical composition. There was a treatment effect (P <0.05) for the variables crude protein (CP) and mineral matter (MM), where the treatments FFH and FF obtained higher means than the treatment FS. A treatment effect (P <0.05) was observed for the acid detergent fiber, the highest values were observed in the FFH and FF treatments. The dry mass of forage was lower in the treatment of FFH, possibly provided by water supply via hydrogel, reducing the dry mass of forage in this treatment. Agricultural hydrogel and foliar fertilization enabled the development of forage palm, mainly contributing to the improvement of its chemical composition attributes in terms of PB and MM.