Production and initial growth of forest species seedlings using sewage sludge and automated irrigation

Abstract

Traditionally, irrigation management has not been used in forest nurseries, compromising the efficiency of the system and the quality of seedlings. In this study, we evaluated the quality of seedlings under different irrigation levels and the substrate composed of pure biosolid, and the initial growth of three Atlantic Forest tree species, produced with automated irrigation management. Four irrigation levels (V1 to V4) were applied by dripping on Schizolobium parahyba (Vell.) Blake, Cytharexyllum myrianthum Chamiáo and Ceiba speciosa Ravenna seedlings. After that, the seedlings were planted to evaluate their early growth in pots. The water was applied in response to species requirement and the volume was measured by water flow sensors, connected to an Arduino MEGA board. Height, collar diameter, leaf area, dry mass and chlorophyll content measurements were used to assess plant development on the seedling and early growth stages. Seedlings that received the highest average volume of water (V4) had a higher rate of growth in height and collar diameter for the three species studied. Despite this, the seedlings that received a smaller volume of water (V1) achieve similar size than V4 ones in pots. The plant growth and quality data, in the two phases analyzed, together with the aggregation of the substrate, indicate that the ideal irrigation level is linked to treatments that received the highest volumes of water (V3 and V4) in the seedling production phase. The results obtained indicate that it is possible to save water and produce seedlings of forest species with quality, ensuring their survival in the field.

Production of forest seedlings using sewage sludge and automated irrigation with ozonated cattle wastewater

“…For micronutrients, the values were 722.7 ppm Zn, 20773.3 ppm Fe, 184.5 ppm Mn, 164.3 ppm Cu and 12.1 ppm B. Physical analyzes performed by [ 26 ] indicated total porosity of 0.70 cm cm -3 , mean particle density of 1.71 g cm -3 and apparent density of 0.74 g cm -3 , compatible with the physical characteristics of humic soils.…”

“…In addition to treated wastewater, the application of sewage sludge has been carried out in forest areas aiming to enhance both tree growth and wood production and to improve several soil characteristics [ 21 ]. Called biosolid, after stabilization process, this solid waste comes from sewage treatment plants has become popular in Brazil [ 22 – 24 ], and used in the composition of organic substrates for seedling production [ 22 – 26 ]. This is a promising initiative for the forestry sector in the country [ 27 ], which has a nursery capacity of around 150 million seedlings of native forest species [ 28 ].…”

Treated cattle wastewater affects the growth, quality and water productivity of Dalbergia nigra seedlings produced with shading and irrigation levels

“…Water is essential to seedling production of tree species (Gabira et al, 2021), as it affects morphophysiological aspects related to growth and its rusticity (Sippel et al, 2018). However, the lack of adequate technique and management impairs the efficiency of irrigation systems and the quality of seedlings (Carvalho et al, 2021), thereby justifying the importance of determining the water requirement of tree species (Bueno et al, 2020).…”

Initial growth and quality of jussara palm seedlings cultivated in biosolid-based substrates

“…However, the urban environment presents adverse conditions for plant appropriate development so the use of high-quality seedlings is fundamental as plants must endure unfavorable conditions after planting to develop and grow. Such seedling quality is directly related to the substrate type and composition (Carvalho et al, 2021;Souza et al, 2022). Although there are many available commercial substrates of high quality, it is possible to observe that seedling production in Brazil, especially at nurseries, is made using substrates coming from different raw materials which are usually prepared on site (Ferraz et al, 2022).…”

“…The biosolid use has shown positive results regarding seedling production of different palm species such as jussara (Silva et al, 2015), bottle palm (Berilli et al, 2018), king palm (Ferreira, Souza, Muniz, Ferreira, & Pivetta, 2021), and queen palm (Souza et al, 2022), as well as several tree species (Abreu Júnior et al, 2017;Caldeira, Favalessa, Delarmelina, Gonçalves, & Moura, 2018;Abreu, Alonso, Melo, Leles, & Santos2019;Carvalho et al, 2021). However, further studies are necessary to precisely define its proportion in substrate composition.…”