USO DE POLIHALITA NA ADUBAÇÃO DE PLANTIO DA CANA-DE-AÇÚCAR

Abstract

Polyhalite is a mineral that, in addition to potassium (K), contains sulfur (S), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg), nutrients that crops need in significant quantities. In this context, it can be an important alternative source of K for agriculture. The present experiment aimed to evaluate the potential use of polyhalite as a source of nutrients in sugarcane planting. The experiment was conducted under field conditions, in the area of ​​the Denusa Plant (Destilaria Nova União), located in the municipality of Jandaia, GO, Brazil. The experimental design used was a randomized block design, with 5 treatments and 4 replications, in a total of 20 plots. The treatments were distributed manually at the bottom of the planting furrow, in order to provide 60 kg ha-1 K2O and were composed of K sources, applied alone (KCl or polyhalite) or combined (KCl+polyhalite), or even supplemented by limestone (KCl+limestone), in addition to a control treatment. An evaluation of tillering, nutritional diagnosis, productivity and technological parameters was carried out. The analysis of variance showed that there was no significant difference between treatments for productive and industrial parameters, and for almost all nutritional parameters. The only exception was the N content in the diagnosis leaf, which the F test showed that there was a significant effect of the treatments.