Aiming at assessing the performance of alternative methods to Penman-Monteith FAO56 for estimating the reference evapotranspiration (ETo) for Londrina, Paraná, Brazil, the methods temperature radiation, Hicks-Hess, Hargreaves-Samani (1982), Turc, Priestley-Taylor, Tanner-Pelton, Jensen-Haise, Makkink, modified Hargreaves, Stephens-Stewart, Abtew, global radiation, Ivanov, Lungeon, Hargreaves-Samani ResumoCom objetivo de avaliar o desempenho de métodos alternativos ao Penmam-Monteith-FAO56 para a estimativa da evapotranspiração de referência (ETo) para a cidade de Londrina, Paraná, foram comparados a este método padrão recomendado pela FAO os seguintes métodos:

Aiming at assessing the performance of alternative methods to Penman-Monteith FAO56 for estimating the reference evapotranspiration (ETo) for Londrina, Paraná, Brazil, the methods temperature radiation, Hicks-Hess, Hargreaves-Samani (1982), Turc, Priestley-Taylor, Tanner-Pelton, Jensen-Haise, Makkink, modified Hargreaves, Stephens-Stewart, Abtew, global radiation, Ivanov, Lungeon, Hargreaves-Samani (1985), Benavides-Lopez, original Penman, Linacre, Blaney-Morin, Romanenko, Hargreaves (1974), McCloud, Camargo, Hamon, Kharrufa, McGuiness-Bordne, and Blaney-Criddle were compared to that standard method recommended by FAO. The estimations were correlated by linear regression and assessed by using the Person’s correlation coefficient (r), concordance index (d), and performance index (c) using a set of meteorological data of approximately 40 years. The methods modified Hargreaves, Stephens-Stewart, Abtew, global radiation, Ivanov, Lungeon, Hargreaves-Samani (1985), Benavides-Lopez, original Penman, and Linacre should be avoided, as they did not present excellent results. The methods McCloud, Camargo, Hamon, Kharrufa, McGuinness-Bordne, Blaney-Criddle, Hargreaves (1974), Romanenko, and Blaney-Morin were classified as very bad, not being recommended. In contrast, the methods temperature radiation, Hicks-Hess, Hargreaves-Samani (1982), Turc, Priestley-Taylor, Tenner-Pelton, Jensen-Haise, and Makkink presented excellent performance indices and can be applied in the study region.

Recent research suggests that soybean yield could be doubled in Brazilian conditions, implying that the base fertilization is pivotal, as it might influence chemical and microbiological soil indicators and, hence, the crop grain yield. The current study had the goal of assessing alterations in the chemical and microbiological soil indicators, in the short term, as well as the soybean biometric and grain yield performance as a function of different fertilizers for base fertilization, in two sowing periods. An experiment comprised of two sowing periods was carried out in the 2019/2020 season on a dystrophic Red Latosol, in north Parana state. Five treatments were assessed, comprising: 1) control; 2) mineral fertilizer; 3) organomineral fertilizer; 4) mineral fertilizer mixed with granulated gypsum; and 5) slow release mineral fertilizer. A randomized block design with four replicates was adopted. The following variables were assessed: chemical and microbiological soil indicators; final stand; first pod insertion height; plant height; stem diameter; number of pods per plant; number of grains per plant; number of grains per pod; grain mass per plant; and one thousand grain mass and grain yield. There is no base fertilization effect on the chemical soil indicators in the short term, however, there is an effect on the microbiological soil indicators. Soybean biometric and grain yield performance is decreased with the delayed sowing period, regardless of the type of fertilizer utilized for base fertilization. Analyzing a set of soil quality indicators enables precise and judicious results to be gathered on management practices in the soil environment.