Nitrogen management of shallow Florida histosols for sugarcane production. (14th December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: de Camargo Santos, Aline; McCray, James Mabry; Daroub, Samira; Rowland, Diane; Ji, Shangning; Sandhu, Hardev
• Is Part Of: Journal of plant nutrition. Volume 45:Number 20(2022)
• Page Start: 3045
• Page End: 3056
• Publication Date: 2022-12-14
• Subjects: Everglades Agricultural Area -- Florida Histosols -- nitrogen -- Saccharum spp. -- SPAD; Plants -- Nutrition -- Periodicals; Plants -- Effect of minerals on -- Periodicals; Deficiency diseases in plants -- Periodicals; 575.76
• DOI: 10.1080/01904167.2021.2020822
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0190-4167

Abstract

Abstract: Sugarcane production in Florida occurs mainly in artificially drained Histosols of the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). Nowadays, the nitrogen (N) mineralization of these soils is the main source of N to the plants, however, depending on environmental conditions and the restricted soil depth of these organic soils, N availability might be limited for crop establishment and growth. The aims of this study were to analyze N concentration in sugarcane leaf and in the soil, while evaluating the influence of external N input application on sugarcane yields and sugar content, to determine the effectiveness of the current N recommendations for shallow organic soils of the EAA. To address the issue, a small plot trial was conducted in the 2017/2018 crop season, in two commercial sugarcane fields in south Florida Histosols. The experiment consisted of gradual increasing doses of N from control, 56, 112 and 168 kg N ha −1 year, applied as ammonium nitrate. We evaluated N levels in the soils and the leaves, chlorophyll index (SPAD) measurements, and sugar and biomass yields. Our results indicated that the N application did not affect the N leaf concentration and yield components did not have any improvement with N application. We concluded that the current recommendation of no N application is still accurate for these shallow soils, since the N mineralization is still sufficient in the supply of the nutrient.