Initial development of cowpea plants under salt stress and phosphate fertilization/Desenvolvimento inicial de plantas de feijão-caupi sob estresse salino e adubação fosfatada

• Published in: Revista ambiente & água Vol. 12; no. 3; p. 405
• Main Authors: Sá, Francisco Vanies da Silva, Neto, Miguel Ferreira, de Lima, Yuri Bezerra, de Paiva, Emanoela Pereira, Gheyi, Hans Raj, Dias, Nildo da Silva
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taubaté Instituto de Pesquisas Ambientais em Bacias Hidrográficas 01-09-2017
• Subjects: Agronomy; Aridity; Assaying; Biomass; Botany; Calcium sulfate; Chlorine; Competition; Crops; Cultivation; Developmental stages; Dry matter; Emergence; Environmental science; Fertilization; Fertilizers; Flowers & plants; Food; Greenhouses; Gypsum; Irrigation; Phosphate; Phosphates; Phosphorus; Plant propagation; Rainfall; Saline soils; Saline water; Salinity; Salinity effects; Sodium; Soil analysis; Soil fertility; Soil salinity; Toxicity; Water management; Water salinity; Water stress
• ISSN: 1980-993X
• DOI: 10.4136/ambi-agua.2070

The objective of this work was to study the effects of irrigation with saline water associated with phosphate fertilization on the emergence and early growth of cowpea plants. The assay was conducted in the greenhouse of the Department of Environmental Sciences and Technology of the Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid (UFERSA) in Mossoro-RN, during October and November of 2015. The study adopted a randomized block with treatments arranged in a 5 x 3 grid, corresponding to five levels of water salinity (0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5 dS m-1) and three doses of superphosphate, based upon the soil analysis (60%, 100% and 140% of the recommended dose for the crop 60 kg P2O5 ha-1), with five repetitions. The cowpea plants, cv. Paulistinha, were grown in lysimeters with capacity of 8 dm3. During the first 15 days of the initial stage of development the plants were evaluated for emergence, growth and biomass accumulation. The increase in water salinity above 1.5 dSm-1 reduced the emergence, growth and dry matter accumulation of cowpea plants. The increase of 40% in the recommendation of phosphorus fertilization of cowpea increased the growth and biomass accumulation of shoot plants, regardless of salinity.