Use of rabbit manure in lettuce culture: an alternative option

Abstract

Organic fertilization favors the physical and chemical attributes improvement of the soil and promotes the use of waste that would be discarded in the environment. This study aimed to identify the appropriate levels of rabbit manure compost (RMC) from rabbit farming in the production of substrates for lettuce. The experiment was implanted in plastic pots using 5 treatments: 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of RMC mixed with commercial substrate, in a completely randomized design with 10 replications. The analyzed variables were number of leaves per plant, shoot green matter, root green matter, shoot dry matter and root dry matter. There was an increase in number of leaves with the increase of the RMC doses incorporated into the substrate, up to the dose of 59.46%. The shoot green matter had its best response on 61.42% of RMC. In both variables there was a decline afterwards. The root green matter started with an increase up to the dose of 36.14% of RMC, followed by a decline, and another increase, not reaching the same values obtained at the beginning of the curve. An increase was observed in the shoot dry matter as the amount of RMC increased, up to the limit of 45.09%, and then declined. The root green matter showed an increase until approximately 25% of RMC, stabilizing on 75% of the compost. In general, values close to 60% of RMC mixed with the substrate presented the best results. We can conclude that the RMC can be used to promote a greater number of leaves, which are the economically viable parts of lettuce culture.