AVALIAÇÃO DA CICLAGEM DE NUTRIENTES EM SISTEMAS INTEGRADOS DE PRODUÇÃO AGROPECUÁRIA NO SUBTRÓPICO BRASILEIRO

Abstract

Integrated Crop Livestock Systems (ICLS) comprehend in a same space several components, such as grain and forages crops, animals and tree component of synergistic form. When well managed, it can bring sustainability to the property. One of the challenges in such systems is the understanding of the nutrient dynamics and the possible reutilization of these by the successor culture. The objective of this study was to evaluate the contribution of litter and macronutrients, such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and sulfur (S) in ICLS, with absence and presence of trees ), submitted to nitrogen doses (90 and 180 kg N ha-1, N90 and N180, respectively) in the pasture phase. The experiment was carried out at the Agronomic Institute of Paraná, municipality of Ponta Grossa, Paraná. The experimental design was a randomized block design with four treatments (ILP N90, ILP N180, ILPF N90 and ILPF N180, being ILP, integration of livestock and ILPF, integration of livestock and forest) and three replications. In order to better represents the wooded environment, the experimental unit was subdivided into three positions (1m, 3.5m and 7m distance from the tree line). The experiment began in 2006 with the planting of trees in arrangement of 14 x 3m. During winter, black oats and ryegrass are grazed by beef cattle and, in the summer, soybean/corn. The present experiment started in the pasture phase of 2013, which preceded the corn crop (crop 2013/2014), extending until the pasture stage in the winter of 2014. During maize and pasture (2014), litter bags were inserted with the residues from the previous crop, at the time of their respective sowing. The samples were collected at 8, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 153, and 165 days after sowing of maize and pasture. The samples were performed to dry masses (DM) measure and macronutrients determination. The rates of decomposition of the residue and the release of macronutrients were also calculated. Overall, the initial amount of residue from both pasture and maize was lower in tree treatments (-28%). Differences were observed between treatments at initial N contents (ranging from 12 in ILPF N90 to 14 g / kg in ILPF N180) of the pasture residue and for the initial K contents (ranging from 6.5 in ILP N90 to 12 g / kg in ILPF N90) and S (ranging from 0.68 ILPF N90 to 0.91 g / kg ILP N90) in the corn residue. The positions between the tree lines affected only the initial N and S contents of the residues. In relation to the dynamics of the decomposition of the residues and the release of macronutrients, significant differences between the treatments were observed only for the decomposition of the pasture residue and the release of P from the same. The active fraction of DM from pasture ranged from 44 (ILPF N90) to 59% (ILP N180). The half-life time (T1/2) varied between 11 (ILP N90) and 54 (ILPF N180) days for MS and between 6 (ILP N90) and 21 (ILPF N90) days for P. O T1/2 of N was 19 days, whereas for K and S it was 13 days. In relation to maize residue, T1/2 ranged from 5 (in the case of N) to 24 (in the case of P) days. At least 44% of the pasture residue was decomposed during the 165 days of exposure to litter bags. Regarding corn residue, 30% was decomposed over 90 days, regardless of the treatment. The maximum nutrient release (37, 2.8, 62 and 2.5 kg/ha of N, P, K and S respectively) was observed in the ILP N180 for the pasture residue, mainly due to the higher amount of initial residue in this treatment. For the maize residue, maximum releases occurred in ILP N90 for N (48 kg/ha), P (17.4 kg/ha) and S (4.8 kg / ha), due to the higher amount of initial residue in this treatment, and in ILPF N90 for K (82 kg / ha), as a function of the higher starting content in K. Therefore, such cycled quantities should be considered in the management of fertilization. Slabs need to be intensified in the ILPF to reduce the level of shading and avoid large reductions in residue amounts to optimize the benefits of nutrient cycling.