Biochar as soil conditioner in the cultivation of eucalyptus hybrid urograndis

Abstract

The pyrogenic carbon, recently termed "Biochar" is quite a way stable of soil organic matter (SOM) and assists in their cationic exchange capacity (CEC), it can act as nutritional conditioning factor in forest crops. Due to the high demand for forest products, eucalyptus has been gaining attention in the Cerrado region, which has been seen with a frontier silvicultural, especially in areas of degraded pasture. This work aimed to evaluate the productive responses of Eucalyptus urograndis Biochar application in the planting hole seeking new technical recommendations for use of Biochar in this culture. The work was developed in the experimental area of the University of the State of Mato Grosso, campus of Nova Xavantina - MT, December 2012 to April 2013. The adopted experimental design in blocks at random with five treatments, represented by the doses of biochar: 0 kg, 0.5 kg, 1 kg, 2 kg and 4 kg incorporated into the hole with four replications, totaling 20 plots, each containing 12 plants each. For evaluation criteria, a useful parcel was composed of five plants. Were also measured the percentage of mortality, length of lateral branches, height and diameter of plants. The application of biochar to the planting hole time increased moderate to low development of the eucalypts plants, probably because of plant roots quickly extrapolating the radius of hole and so does not that depend more on their environment for mineral nutrition. These results indicate that new ways of handling the product must be tested, like the incorporation in the whole area of cultivation, instead only in the pits.

Keywords

• biochar, pyrogenic carbon, eucalyptus urograndis