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Plant sciences, sustainable farming systems and food quality
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Morphogenetic and structural characteristics of Urochloa species under inoculation with plant-growth-promoting bacteria and nitrogen fertilisation

Camila Fernandes Domingues Duarte https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9776-1353 A , Ulysses Cecato A , Mariangela Hungria B , Henrique Jorge Fernandes C , Thiago Trento Biserra https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6130-9787 A E , Sandra Galbeiro D , Anny Karulinny Barroso Toniato A and Diogo Rodrigues da Silva A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Departamento de Zootecnia, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Avenuenida Colombo, n. 5790, 87020-900, Maringá, PR, Brazil.

B Laboratório de Biotecnologia do Solo, Embrapa Soja, Rodovia Carlos João Strass, 86001-970, Warta, PR, Brazil.

C Curso de Zootecnia, Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul, Rodovia Graziela Maciel Barroso, Km 12, 79200-000, Curso de Zootecnia, Aquidauana, MS, Brazil.

D Departamento de Zootecnia, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Rodovia Celso Garcia Cid, Km 380, 86057-970, Londrina, PR, Brazil.

E Correponding author. Email: thiagotrento@hotmail.com

Crop and Pasture Science 71(1) 82-89 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP18455
Submitted: 1 October 2018  Accepted: 24 September 2019   Published: 2 January 2020

Abstract

Ineffective management of pastures still constitutes the main problem in the Brazilian livestock industry, in which recovery of soil fertility is a determinant for soil restoration. In this context and in combination with the adoption of sustainable technologies, the use of plant-growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) may represent an alternative to the use of chemical fertilisers that would reduce costs and environmental impacts. In this study, morphogenetic and structural characteristics were evaluated in three Urochloa (syn. Brachiaria) varieties. Urochloa is a genus that is present in the most degraded pastures in Brazil. The three varieties were inoculated with five PGPB (Azospirillum brasilense Ab-V5 and Ab-V6, Pseudomonas fluorescens CCTB 03 and ET76, and Pantoea ananatis AMG521) and treated with different doses of nitrogen (N) fertiliser (0, 50 and 100 kg N ha–1) in pots filled with sandy soil under greenhouse conditions. In general, for Marandu grass U. brizantha cvv. BRS Paiaguás and Xaraés, the best performances for leaf and stem elongation rates and number of basal tillers were obtained with strains CCTB 03 and AMG521. For U. ruziziensis, the best performance in the duration and rate of renewal of leaves and leaf senescence was observed with strains AMG521, Ab-V5 and Ab-V6. This result indicated the specificity of the effects of bacterial strains on different genotypes of Urochloa. Differences in the interactions between PGPB and N fertilisation were also verified. In U. brizantha, interaction effects were additive, whereas in U. ruziziensis, they were competitive. The results indicate the feasibility of inoculation of Urochloa with elite strains of PGPB that positively affect the production of forage biomass and allow reductions in N fertiliser usage.

Additional keywords: Congo grass, inoculation in forage, N mineral, rhizobacteria, sustainability in pasture.


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