Contribution of Pueraria phaseoloides L. in the cycling of macronutrients in oil palm plantations

Abstract

The use of cover crops has become a common practice in oil palm plantations, ensuring greater sustainability to agroecosystems, increasing nutrient cycling and providing greater savings in the use of mineral fertilizers. In this sense, the objective of this study was to evaluate the accumulation of macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S) in tropical kudzu plants (Pueraria phaseoloides L.) in oil palm plantations. The experiment was carried out in the municipality of Tailândia, Pará State, using a completely randomized experimental design, four replications and seven treatments (ages of oil palm). The accumulation of macronutrients was obtained through the product of nutrient concentrations and the dry matter of the aerial part of the living, dead and total cover of tropical kudzu. The order of total accumulation of cycled nutrients by legumes was Ca, N, K, Mg, P and S. Tropical kudzu cultivation, as a cover plant, contributes to nutrient cycling in oil palm plantations, but this benefit decreased with the age of palm oil trees.