QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE EFFECTS OF PHOSPHORUS APPLICATION ON TANZÂNIA-1 GRASS

Abstract

The amendment of phosphorus shortage is indispensable to elevate the capacity of animal support capacity of a pasture. To improve P status of these soils and to know the qualitative and quantitative effect of phosphorus fertilizer on the forage Tanzânia-1, an experiment was conducted in one dark red latosol , at Santo Antônio de Goiás - GO. The soil was prepared by using a harrow and one ploughing, and sowing was done after a week. The plots were fertilized by using 0; 50 and 100 kg of P ha-1 of commercial thermo-phosphate in previously amended soil with 3 t ha-1 of dolomite lime. The mean values of plant height, budding, green mass and dry matter increased but decreased the gross protein and increased the fiber contents. The phosphorus fertilizer didn’t influence potassium, calcium, zinc and manganese contents in the leaf tissue of plants. However, it reduced phosphorus, copper and iron contents but increased the magnesium contents.

KEY-WORDS: Savanah; mineral nutricion; Panicum maximum; pasture.