(5) RESUMO A eficiência de utilização de um nutriente, expressa pela relação entre a biomassa produzida e a quantidade absorvida, é uma importante característica adaptativa das plantas, particularmente daquelas cultivadas em solos com baixa disponibilidade desse nutriente. Maior eficiência de utilização de P (EUP) é conferida pela maior taxa de remobilização de P, que consiste na translocação desse nutriente para regiões de maior demanda metabólica na planta. Maiores taxas de remobilização têm sido associadas a maiores atividades das enzimas: fosfatase ácida (APase) e ribonuclease (RNase). Neste trabalho, avaliou-se a atividade dessas enzimas em plantas de Brachiaria decumbens, pouco exigente, e de Panicum maximum cv. Tanzânia, mais exigente em P, cultivadas em solos que receberam diferentes doses desse nutriente e submetidas a diferentes alturas de corte. O ensaio foi realizado em casa de vegetação, utilizando amostra do horizonte B de um Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo argiloso. Os tratamentos resultaram da combinação fatorial das duas gramíneas, das doses de 100, 200 e 500 mg dm -3 de P e das três alturas de corte: sem corte e corte a 15 e 30 cm a partir da superfície do solo para Brachiaria; e sem corte e corte a 20 e 40 cm para Panicum. As unidades experimentais consistiram de vasos com 10 dm 3 de solo, com 10 plantas. Os

Enhanced efficiency potassium fertilizers can be a management tool that is crucial to crop sustainability in maize (Zea mays L.). However, there is a need for studies aimed at validating the use of these fertilizers in different production environments. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of maize under sources and rates of K through conventional and enhanced efficiency fertilizers in soil with high available K content. The experiment was carried out for two years in an Oxisol (605 g kg -1 of clay) with high K content (6.7 mmol c dm -3 ). Three sources were used, one conventional (KCl), one obtained by additives sprayed on the fertilizer surface (KCl-C), and one obtained by compacting KCl powder and adding additives (KCl-CC), associated with three K 2 O rates as top-dressing (50, 100, 150 kg ha -1 ) and a control without K 2 O. In all treatments, 48 kg ha -1 of K 2 O was applied in the sowing furrow. In the first year, maize yield increased linearly for both the KCl and KCl-C sources. The maximum yield (7,967 kg ha -1 ) for the KCl-CC was obtained at 88 kg ha -1 . In the second year, the maximum yields for the KCl (7,553 kg ha -1 ) and KCl-C (8,166 kg ha -1 ) were obtained with 20 and 67 kg ha -1 K 2 O, respectively, while for the KCl-CC maize yield did not change. Enhanced efficiency K sources promote increases in maize yield ranging from 4.3 % to 7.1 %. Top-dressing K fertilization in high-fertility soils is a viable alternative for producers focused on increasing maize yield, mainly when enhanced efficiency sources are used.

The use of coated fertilizers is a strategy for improving fertilization efficiency and crop yield. However, further studies are needed to understand the dynamics of different types of coated K fertilizers in the soil. The objective of this study was to evaluate K dynamics in soil columns after the application of conventional KCl and other K sources with coating (KCl-C) and compaction (KCl-CC) combined with the use of additives and polymers. The experiment comprised four treatments, consisting of three sources of K [conventional KCl, KCl coated with additives and polymers (KCl-C), and KCl compacted and coated with additives and polymers (KCl-CC)], and a control without K application, with four repetitions. The K concentration was evaluated in the leached solution collected from the soil columns for 28 days. After this period, the K concentration in the soil was determined. The absence of K fertilization in the soil led to a 26.5% reduction in the K concentration. The coated sources had lower granule hardness and higher K leaching than conventional KCl. The amounts of K leached were 62.2%, 68.5%, and 54.0% for KCl-CC, KCl-C, and conventional KCl, respectively. However, at the end of the experiment, the soil K concentration was higher under the KCl-C treatment.

Urea is the most used nitrogen fertilizer in tropical agriculture, but when applied to the soil surface, it can promote nitrogen (N) losses by volatilization of ammonia (NH3). The present study aimed to evaluate, under controlled laboratory conditions, the N-NH 3 losses from conventional N sources and compacted urea . Fertilizers were applied on the surface of a eutrophic Red Latosol of clayey texture (Oxisol), previously moistened to 60% of its maximum water-retention capacity. Conduction of the experiment was in a completely randomized design with six replicates . The treatments were four N sources in doses equivalent to 100 kg ha -1 of N (urea, urea + N-(N-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT), ammonium nitrate and urea compacted with additives and polymers), and the additional control groups (soil with no fertilizer and empty chamber). We evaluated the N-NH 3 losses by volatilization for a period of 20 days with the aid of hermetically sealed chambers. The results demonstrated the importance of using compacted urea for reducing nitrogen losses via volatilization. These results suggest that choosing the N source can reduce its volatilization and thus improve the harnessing of N from the nitrogen fertilization, when performed with a urea basis.