Growth and composition of sugarcane and chemical attributes of the soil by fertilizing with different levels of cow manure

Abstract

Four months after planting sugarcane variety RB867515, fertilized with 0.0, 4.5, 9.0, 13.5 and 18.0 Mg ha-1 of cow manure, there was positive linear effect of the fertilizer on plant height and stalk diameter, quadratic positive effect on width and length of the largest leaf, and no effect on number of plants m-1 linear and the number of leaves plant-1. At 10 months, there was quadratic positive effect of cow manure on plant height and no effect on number of plants, stalk diameter, width and length of the largest leaf and number of leaves plant-1. At 12 months, there was quadratic effect on the yield of green mass with the highest value on 18 Mg ha-1 of cow manure, without change on chemical composition. During the cutting time, the most pronounced effect of cow manure on sugarcane was in the yield of green mass and, therefore, up to 18 Mg ha-1 of cow manure can be used to increase sugarcane performance, without changing chemical composition and maintaining soil fertility.