POLIHALITA COMO FONTE DE POTÁSSIO NA ADUBAÇÃO DE SOQUEIRA DA CANA-DE AÇÚCAR

Abstract

There are recurring discussions regarding production costs and increased sugarcane productivity. There are several possibilities, and fertilization stands out in particular. K is the second most demanded nutrient by sugarcane crops, and the main source used is KCl. Alternatively, polyhalite has shown good results for several crops, so the objective is to evaluate the effects of a polyhalite-based fertilizer on sugarcane ratoon productivity. The experiment was conducted in the municipality of Jataí-GO, in a randomized block design, consisting of 4 treatments and 5 replicates. The treatments corresponded to fertilization only with potassium chloride (KCl) (216.7 kg ha-1); and fertilization with polyhalite (928.6 kg ha-1); fertilization with polyhalite (232.1 kg ha-1) + KCl (162.5 kg ha-1) in a ratio of 75/25, in addition to a control treatment without any potassium fertilization. Harvesting was performed manually, and the morphological parameters (number, height and diameter of stalks) and the productive parameter (tons of stalks per hectare) were evaluated. Data were subjected to analysis of variance using the F test at 5% probability, and the means were compared using the Tukey test at a significance level of 0.05.