Levels of phosphorus, sulfur and micronutrients on degraded pasture recovery on sandy soils of north of Tocantins state

Abstract

This work was carried out at the Fazenda Porã, county of Xambioá, TO, Brazil. The climate is hot and humid with well defined dry (May-September) and rainy (October-April) seasons. The objective of the trial was to study the feasibility of recovering a degraded pasture of guinea grass (Panicum maximum Jacq.), using two levels of micronutrients (0 and 30 kg/ha of fretted trace elements BR 12), two levels of sulfur (0 and 50 kg/ha of S), and two levels of phosphorus (0 and 75 kg/ha of P₂O₅). The design used was a randomized complete block, in a factorial system 2 x 2 x 2 with four aditional treatments with phosphorus (25; 50; 100 and 150 kg/ha of P₂O₅). The trial was conducted from March 1979 through March 1981. The levels of sulfur and micronutrients did not influence the dry matter yield of guinea grass, whereas 75 kg/ha of P₂O₅ caused a significant increase in grass yield.