No abstract

Forage is a low-cost food for cattle production. To achieve maximum economic and productive efficiency, nitrogen dose must be adjusted as well as the ideal time to carry out the application. Thereby, this work aimed to identify the appropriate moment to realize nitrogen maintenance fertilization on cultivars of Panicum maximum (syn. Megathyrsus maximus): BRS Tamani e MG 12 Paredão. Two experiments were carried out in a greenhouse. The first experiment (Experiment 1) at Federal University of Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, and the second experiment (Experiment 2) at Federal University of Rondonópolis. Treatments consisted of five intervals between forage defoliation and nitrogen fertilization: 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 days. Harvests were done when Tamani and MG 12 Paredão guinea grass reached 30 + 0.70 and 78 + 0.70 cm, respectively. The intervals between forage defoliation and nitrogen fertilization did not influence the development of MG 12 Paredão, except for tiller number. In contrast, the intervals between forage defoliation and nitrogen fertilization of BRS Tamani changed the leaf number, tiller number, dry mass of each leaf blade, dry mass of each tiller, leaf blade dry mass, stem dry mass and shoot dry mass. The longer the interval between defoliation and nitrogen fertilization on BRS Tamani, the greater the decrease in development, which impacted negatively on forage mass. There was no common biological response for both cultivars, even belonging to the same species, therefore, MG 12 Paredão has flexibility for fertilization timing, while BRS Tamani fertilization should be performed as close as possible to defoliation.

Resumo O capim Ipyporã, um híbrido interespecífico de Brachiaria, foi desenvolvido através do cruzamento de um genótipo de Brachiaria ruziziensis (sin. Urochloa ruziziensis) e um acesso de Brachiaria brizantha (sin. Urochloa brizantha), que possuem diferentes exigências de nitrogênio. O objetivo com este trabalho foi verificar a necessidade de nitrogênio do híbrido interespecífico de Brachiaria hibrida cv. Ipyporã. O experimento foi conduzido em casa de vegetação, em delineamento de blocos ao acaso, com doze tratamentos e quatro repetições. Os tratamentos corresponderam a um fatorial 4x3, sendo quatro doses de nitrogênio (0, 100, 200 e 300 mg/dm 3 ) e três gramíneas forrageiras (B. hibrida cv. BRS Ipyporã, B. humidicola cv. Llanero e Panicum maximum cv. Zuri). Cada parcela experimental foi constituída por vaso de 3 dm³ com três plantas. Foram realizados três cortes de avaliação. A B. hibrida Ipyporã obteve maior resposta à adubação nitrogenada para número de perfilhos e de folhas em relação aos demais capins. Entretanto, para a massa seca total, observou-se que a B. hibrida foi menos responsiva ao nitrogênio que o capim P. maximum (alta exigência) e mais responsivo que B. humidicola (baixa exigência), o que mostra que esse híbrido é uma forrageira com média demanda em nitrogênio. Palavras -chave adubação nitrogenada, teste de identidade de modelos, Urochloa híbrida Abst ractIpyporã grass, a Brachiaria interspecific hybrid was developed by crossing a genotype of Brachiaria ruziziensis (syn. Urochloa ruziziensis) and an access of Brachiaria brizantha (syn. Urochloa brizantha), which have different nitrogen requirements.Therefore, the objective with work was to verify the nitrogen requirement of the interspecific hybrid of Brachiaria hybrid cv.Ipyporã. Experiment was carried out in a greenhouse in a randomized block design, with twelve treatments and four replications. Treatments consisted of a 4 x 3 factorial arrangement, with four nitrogen doses (0; 100; 200 and 300 mg/dm³) and three forages (Brachiaria hybrid cv. BRS Ipyporã, Brachiaria humidicola cv. Llanero and Panicum maximum cv. Zuri). Each experimental plot consisted of a 3 dm³ pot with three plants. Three evaluation harvest were done. B. hybrid had greater response to nitrogen fertilization for number of tillers and leaves than the other forages. However, for the total dry mass, B. hybrid was less responsive to nitrogen than P. maximum grass (high demand) and more responsive than B. humidicola (low demand), which shows that this hybrid has medium nitrogen requirement.

Sulfur and potassium are essential elements for the development of forages as part of protein synthesis, nutrient transport, activation of photosynthesis enzymes and stomatal activity. Thus, this study aimed was to evaluate the production and morphology of Xaraes grass (Urochloa brizantha cv. Xaraes) and Zuri grass (Megathyrsus maximus cv. Zuri) fertilized with combinations of sulfur (S) and potassium (K) (only S, only K, with S and K, and without both), and identify which of these nutrients should be prioritized in maintenance fertilization. Two experiments were conducted in the greenhouse, in a completely randomized design. The first experiment was utilized the Xaraes grass and the second experiment the Zuri grass. Each experimental plot consisted of 5 dm3 pots with five plants per pot. All treatments were fertilized 200 mg/dm3 per pot with nitrogen. On treatments fertilized with sulfur it were applied ammonium sulfate (21% N and 24% S) as nitrogen supply, thus, it was applied 228 mg/dm3 of sulfur per plot. On treatments without sulfur, the nitrogen source was urea (46% N). The treatments with potassium were fertilized 100 mg/dm3 with potassium, utilizing potassium chloride (58% K2O). The harvest was performed when the plants reached the height of 35 and 75 cm, for xaraes and zuri respectively. For Xaraes grass, the fertilization with S and K in different combinations had a significant effect (P<0.05) on forage mass, leaves number and tillers per pot, individual tiller mass, leaf blade, stem + sheath, and dead material, as well as relative forage mass. For Zuri grass, the combinations of S and K showed statistical difference (P<0.05) just on leaf blade mass and dead material, and the number of leaves per pot, as well as on relative leaf blade mass. Based on the results obtained in the two experiments, the S and K combination in the maintenance fertilization of xaraes grass improves the forage development, however, S does not increase the productive indexes of zuri grass.