Aluminum in mineral nutrition of upland rice plants

Abstract

Although upland rice plants have been historically considered to be tolerant to aluminum, they may have their growth prevented or decreased when cultivated on aluminum soils, besides having their uptake of water and nutrients negatively influenced. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the content and accumulation of macro and micronutrients in upland rice plants submitted to aluminum toxicity. The experimental design chosen was the randomized block design, with four replications; and the treatments were five doses of aluminum (0; 370; 740; 1100 and 1480 μmol L-1). The evaluations conducted were on the content and accumulation of macro and micronutrients in the shoot and root of the plants. Due to the interaction between aluminum and calcium, the decrease in calcium content and accumulation are the most important effects caused by aluminum on the mineral nutrition of upland rice plants. Aluminum has a high negative influence on mineral nutrition of upland rice plants, especially at its roots.