Nutritional status of jatropha under cattle manure and natural phosphate in rainfed conditions

Abstract

There is little information on the technical recommendation of fertilization for jatropha in the semi-arid region. This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional status of jatropha plants fertilized with cattle manure and natural phosphate under rainfed conditions. The experiment was set in a randomized block design, with three replicates, arranged in a 4 x 4 factorial scheme, corresponding to 4 doses of cattle manure (0, 4, 8 and 12 t ha(-1)) and 4 doses of natural phosphate (0, 250, 500 and 750 kg ha(-1)). The application of 8 t ha(-1) of cattle manure, in isolation or associated with 500 kg ha(-1) of natural phosphate, promotes adequate conditions to obtain jatropha plants with sufficient levels (g kg(-1)) of N (29.8), P (5.1), K (33.8), Ca (17.1), Mg (14.0) and S (2.6) and micronutrients (Cu = 8.0 and Mn = 94.4 mg kg(-1)) in its leaf tissue.