SOIL QUALITY AND GROWTH OF NATIVE PLANTS FERTILISED WITH SUGARCANE RESIDUE

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the growth of Cerrado seedlings and soil quality using byproducts of sugarcane in a degraded area. The experiment was implemented in the Northwest of Minas Gerais State, Brazil, with the following treatments: (T1) control, (T2) filter cake, (T3) sugarcane bagasse, (T4) filter cake + sugarcane bagasse and (T5) mineral fertiliser. After planting, three evaluations of plant height and diameter at ground level were carried out. The soil quality was evaluated 410 days after planting at 0–10 and 10–20 cm depths, where total and microbial carbon and nitrogen, basal and accumulated respiration, microbial and metabolic coefficient were determined. For Anacardium humile and Hymenaea courbaril, T2 and T3, respectively, favored their growth in diameter. The seedlings of A. humile, Butia capitata and H. courbaril showed the higher growth in height with filter cake and bagasse (T2, T3 and T4). Soil carbon and nitrogen contents were higher in T2 at 0–10 cm, and these variables were more responsive in T1, T2 and T3 at 10–20 cm. The use of sugarcane bagasse and filter cake residues promoted good growth of all the evaluated species and improved soil quality, as indicated in recovery projects for degraded areas.