Nutrient reference values for ‘BRS Platina’ banana in improved fertility soils

Abstract

Reference values of leaf nutrient contents are essential for nutritional assessment of plants. The objective was to establish nutritional reference values for ‘BRS Platina’ banana in improved fertility soil, using the sufficiency range (SR), border Line (BL) and mathematical chance (MCh) methods, in addition to the critical level obtained by the reduced normal distribution (CLz). The study was carried out in Guanambi-BA, considering nutrient contents and yields of an experiment arranged in randomized blocks, 5 x 6 factorial scheme, with five doses of K2O (0, 200, 400, 600 and 800 kg ha-1) supplied with fertilizers for organic management and six sampling times (210; 390; 570; 750; 930 and 1,110 days after planting), totaling 90 plots. Plots with high yield, ≥ 38.40 t ha-1, formed the reference population and plots with yield ≥ 47.43 t ha-1 formed the reference subpopulation. There was convergence between the optimal values obtained by the methods evaluated. Therefore, the reference values adjusted by the SR, BL, MCh and CLz methods can be used with assertiveness to interpret the foliar analysis of the ‘BRS Platina’ banana in improved fertility soils. Furthermore, among these, MCh stands out as it provides narrower optimal ranges.