Author(s)

Edna Maria Bonfim-Silva^1*, Marcel Thomas Job Pereira¹, Tonny José Araújo Da Silva¹, William Fenner²

¹Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (ICAT), Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Cuiabá, Brazil.
²Faculty of Agronomy and Zootechnic (FAAZ), Post Graduating in Tropical Agriculture, Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Cuiabá, Brazil.

Utilizing wood ash as a fertilizer in agriculture is a viable alternative to the soil nutrients absorbed by the crops. The aim of this study was to assess the phytometric and productive features of Brachiaria brizantha (cv. BRS Piatã) fertilized with wood ash in the Brazilian Cerrado. The experiment was performed in a greenhouse, adopting a completely randomized design, and applying five rates of wood ash (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 g·dm^-3) with five replicates. The shoot plant parts were subjected to three successive cuts 30-day intervals each. The results were submitted to the analysis of variance and regression analysis at 5% probability. The wood ash rates between 13 to 17 g·dm^-3 clearly produced the best results for plant height (102.24, 84.42 and 63.27 cm), leaf/stem ratio (1.61, 1, 78 and 1.94), and chlorophyll index (46.66, 41.93 and 38.39), respectively, during the first, second and third evaluations. A 94% increase in the shoot dry mass (2^nd and 3^rd evaluations) and root parts was noted for the wood ash rate of 20 g·dm^-3, compared with the treatment involving wood ash fertilization. Wood ash affects the phytometric features, increases the chlorophyll concentration and thus the BRS Piatã grass production in the Oxisol of the Brazilian Cerrado.

Solid Residue in Agriculture, Tropical Grass, Brachiaria brizantha, Alternative Fertilizer

Bonfim-Silva, E. , Pereira, M. , Da Silva, T. and Fenner, W. (2017) Potential of Wood Ash as a Fertilizer in BRS Piatã Grass Cultivation in the Brazilian Cerrado Soil. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 8, 2333-2344. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2017.810156.