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Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar

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Rice Yield (Oriza sativa) as an Indica<strong>to</strong>r of Soil Fertility <strong>with</strong><br />

the Incorporation of Stylosanthes guianensis Stubble in<br />

Pucallpa, Peru<br />

Jorge Vela<br />

IIAP, Peru<br />

Stylosanthes guianensis (stylo) is a legume adapted <strong>to</strong> the humid<br />

rainforest conditions of the Peruvian Amazon region, where it presents good<br />

growth and high biomass production. Smallholders in this region commonly<br />

plant rice (Oriza sativa). However, for this crop <strong>to</strong> develop well, it requires<br />

the application of N, which is a high-cost input. This study aims <strong>to</strong> evaluate<br />

the potential of stylo <strong>to</strong> fix nitrogen and determine the use of this element by<br />

the rice crop prior <strong>to</strong> pasture establishment.<br />

Materials and Methods<br />

The experiment was carried out between Oc<strong>to</strong>ber 1998 and February<br />

1999 on the Sara farm, located on km 15 of the road that leads from<br />

Pucallpa <strong>to</strong> Tingo María, on an acid Ultisol <strong>with</strong> high aluminum content.<br />

This area belongs <strong>to</strong> the seasonal semi-evergreen tropical rainforest<br />

ecosystem <strong>with</strong> annual mean precipitation of 1,900 mm and mean<br />

temperature of 26 °C.<br />

Treatments were as follows: T1, soil <strong>with</strong>out application of N (check);<br />

T2, soil after incorporating S. guianensis stubble <strong>with</strong>out application of N;<br />

T3 <strong>to</strong> T6, soil after incorporating S. guianensis stubble <strong>with</strong> the application<br />

of 50, 100, 150, and 200 kg/ha of N. The variables evaluated were rice yield,<br />

number of tillers and of spikelets/m 2 , number of grains/spikelet, and weight<br />

of 1000 grains. Rice variety Chancabanco, <strong>with</strong> a 90-day vegetative period,<br />

was planted. All treatments received a uniform basal application of 50<br />

kg/ha of K2O/ha as potassium chloride and 50 kg/ha of P2O5 as rock<br />

phosphate. A completely randomized block design, <strong>with</strong> six treatments and<br />

five replications, was used.<br />

Results<br />

Rice yields, after incorporation of stylo stubble, were higher (P < 0.05)<br />

than those obtained <strong>with</strong> the check treatment or equal <strong>to</strong> those obtained<br />

<strong>with</strong> the application of 50 kg/ha of N, which indicates the potential of this<br />

legume <strong>to</strong> supply N <strong>to</strong> the soil. However, the best results were obtained <strong>with</strong><br />

the application of 100 kg/ha of N (Table 1).<br />

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