Height, leaf nymber, chemical composition and dry matter production of Stylosanthes Campo Grande at different levels of potassium and zinco.

• Main Authors: Françoise Mara Gomes, Cíntia Gonçalves Guimarães, Karina Guimarães Ribeiro, Janaína de Lima Silva, Regina Silva Santos, Odilon Gomes Pereira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto de Zootecnia 2015-10-01
• Series: Boletim de Indústria Animal
• Subjects: adubação; altura; leguminosa; proteína bruta; rebrota.
• Online Access: http://revistas.bvs-vet.org.br/bia/article/view/27688

<span>The objective of this study was to determine plant height, total number of leaves, number of live leaves, chemical composition and dry mass production of </span><span>Stylosanthes</span><span> cv. Campo Grande at first cut and after 21 days of regrowth at different levels of potassium (K</span><span>2</span><span>O) with and without zinc (Zn). The experiment was conducted using a randomized block design in a 4 x 2 factorial scheme consisting of four repetitions. Four levels of K</span><span>2</span><span>O (0, 120, 240 and 360 mg/dm</span><span>3</span><span>) with and without Zn (0 and 6 mg/dm</span><span><span>3</span></span><span>) were used. There was no effect of the interaction between K</span><span>2</span><span>O and Zn levels on the structural characteristics of </span><span>Stylosanthes</span><span> cv. Campo Grande, and no independent effects of the different levels of K</span><span>2</span><span>O and Zn were observed. The mean plant height, total number of leaves and number of live leaves were 21.2 cm, 30.2 and 27.2, respectively. Dry mass production did not differ between K</span><span>2</span><span>O and Zn levels, with a mean production of 3.7 g/pot. There was also no effect of the interaction between K2O and Zn levels on dry matter and neutral detergent fiber content, and no independent effects of the different levels of K</span><span>2</span><span>O and Zn were observed, with mean values of 29.3% and 46.9% dry matter, respectively. However, an effect of the interaction between K</span><span>2</span><span>O and Zn levels was observed for crude protein content, which exhibited a quadratic response. Re2growth increased linearly with increasing K</span><span>2</span><span>O levels. Although the highest crude protein content was obtained at zero levels of potassium and zinc, potassium fertilization is advantageous since it increases the regrowth of </span><span>Stylosanthes</span><span> cv. Campo Grande in 21 days.</span>