Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
In the context of climate change, chestnut fertilization is receiving great attention in the Mediterranean basin, due to the increase
in the unpredictability of the pluviometric regime which makes it difficult to determine the optimal timing of fertilizer applications.
The purpose of this work was to assess the suitability of fertilizers with mechanisms for nutrient protection on the increase
of tree nutritional status and crop productivity. Four fertilizers with restricted nutrient solubility were tested: Bioscape 5:14:7
(32.8% organic matter (OM)); Humix 13:3:5 (80.1% OM); Exactyon AG 6:15:8 (37.7% N and 33.1% P encapsulated); and
ExactyonAG 18:5:13 (47%N encapsulated, 28.8%N as urea coatedwith ammoniumsulfate). The trials were carried out for four
years in Moimenta and Meixedo, NE Portugal, which also received a non-fertilized control. In Moimenta the ground was
managed by tillage and in Meixedo by a cover of natural vegetation. Exactyon AG 18:5:13, being the most concentrated in N
and B, gave significantly higher cumulative (2015–2018) nut yields (146.6 kg tree−1) than the control (52.3 kg tree−1) in the
Moimenta trial. The results were explained by the increase in leaf N and B levels, which in the control treatment were in the
deficiency range. In Meixedo there were not found significant differences among treatments, likely due to the competition by
cover crop for resources. The results showed that the response of the trees to the fertilizers relied mainly in their content in
nutrients limiting to the agroecosystem and less in the mechanisms of nutrient protection.
Description
Keywords
Castanea sativa Crop nutritional status Crop removal Fertilizers Nut yield
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Rodrigues, Manuel Ângelo; Grade, Vagner; Barroso, Valdemar; Pereira, Abel; Cassol, Luís César; Arrobas, Margarida (2019). Chestnut Response to Organo-mineral and Controlled-Release Fertilizers in Rainfed Growing Conditions. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition. ISSN 0718-9508. p. 1-12