Replacement levels of urea by bovine manure in the fertilization of palisade grass cv. Marandu

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the productive response and harvest cycles of irrigated and fertilized marandu grass with combinations containing urea and bovine manure in different periods. A randomized complete block design was used, in a plot scheme subdivided in time with 5 treatments and 5 replications. Five levels of urea replacement by bovine manure (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% bovine manure) were tested at three growing seasons. The accumulation of forage and leaves with the inclusion of manure in substitution of urea decreased by 59.24% and 61.23%, respectively. The accumulated production and the number of harvest cycles decreased with the inclusion of bovine manure, 44.7% and 46.66%, respectively. The percentages of leaf, stem and dead were influenced only by the season, and the best results were observed in the second period. The accumulated production and the number of harvest cycles decreased with the inclusion of bovine manure. Forage production and harvest cycles are negatively affected by the inclusion of manure as a substitute for urea.