A utilização de resíduos vegetais e de esterco bovino: uma alternativa para uma agricultura sustentável

Abstract

The major challenge of sustainable agriculture is the development of renewable technologies for waste, aimed at reducing production costs and reducing environmental pollution. In response to this problem, there are processes that allow the waste reuse for small producers, such as bio-composting. This process consists of the degradation of organic matter, which generates an organic fertilizer. By the way, this fertilizer used may support the production from the farmer, such as a lettuce production (Lactuca sativa L.), one of the most consumed vegetables in the world. So, the purpose of this work was evaluate the biofertilizer response, the slurry, through doses of this organic fertilizer applied to lettuce. The slurry was extracted from a prototype constructed to accelerate the decomposition process of organic matter with addition of fresh bovine manure. The experiment was carried out in a fully protected and air conditioned environment. In the initial stage, the biocomposter lead up and nitrogen analysis from slurry´s content were carried out to perform the calculations for the culture fertilization. In the later stage, the experiment was carried out using organic fertilization in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), cultivar crespa. Five treatments (doses) with 4 replicates, D0 (control), D1 (400 ml / pot), D2 (800 ml / pot), D3 (1,200 ml / pot) and D4 (1,800 ml pot) were used. Finally, the last stage consisted of a laboratory analysis of the lettuce aerial portion, in which fresh mass (MF), dry mass (DM), head diameter of lettuce (DA), number of leaves ), nitrogen content (TN) and phosphorus content (TP). So, Dose 3 (D3) showed best results than others. Therefore, it is recommended to use organic fertilizer from plant residues and cattle manure, showed to be an alternative for small producers with low purchasing power, since it guarantees an adequate fertilization with low cost. In addition, when the waste were reusing, it can contribute to the mitigation of environmental impacts.