Biochar of Sawdust Origin in Passion Fruit Seedling Production

Abstract

Great part of solid waste are deposited inappropriately near cities or in rural areas, contributing to negative environmental impacts. There are numerous forms of waste processing, one of them is pyrolysis to produce biochar and subsequent use in agricultural systems. The objective of this study was to evaluate different substrates with activated biochar (AB) and biochar (B) in substrate and its effect on the growth of passion fruit seedlings. The test was conducted in a nursery, located in Sinop/MT, May to July 2013, designed in four blocks with ten treatments: commercial substrate (CS), composed by pine bark and vermiculite 4:1; nursery substrate (NS) composed by carbonized rice husk and coconut fiber 1:1; and the eigth treatments represented were B and AB additions of 25; 50; 75; and 100% in CS, (B25, B50, B75, B100, AB25, AB50, AB75 and AB100, respectively). After 60 days sowing the stem diameter, plant height, leaf number was evaluated and at the end of the experiment the fresh and dry weight of shoots and roots, and Dickson Quality Index (DQI) were assessed. AB at concentrations of 25, 50 and 75% combined with commercial substrate showed increases in parameters fresh and dry biomass weight, height, stem diameter and number of leaves. The dose of 25% AB is presented as the best dose to be adopted in commercial crops. The sawdust processed into AB is an alternative in the production of passion fruit system and the reintegration of this raw material to the productive sector.

Alternative substrates and controlled-release fertilizer in the production of yellow passion fruit seedlings

“…Seedlings produced using LAF and CS substrates containing at least 6 kg of fertilizer presented a stem diameter close to the values determined by Barros et al (2017), after studying alternative substrates, and superior to those determined by Boechat et al (2010) when combining substrates and conventional mineral fertilization.…”

“…The better performance of the seedlings in relation to the SDM, RDM and TDM grown on the LAF and BNP substrates fertilized with controlled-release fertilizer, can be explained by the chemical composition of these substrates, especially the pH that remained in a range where the nutrients could be made available to the seedlings (Table 2) Seedlings of yellow passion fruit submitted to organic fertilization obtained an index of 0.57 (Andrade et al, 2018) while the index ranged from 0.19 to 0.24 in different substrates (Costa et al, 2018). Yellow passion fruit seedlings grown on alternative substrates and with controlled-release fertilizer presented a SQI of 0.18 to 0.26 (Barros et al, 2017). This index is a good indicator of seedling quality because it combines biometric and plant biomass variables.…”

“…Research on substrates for passion fruit seedlings has been focused on the combination of substrates, especially manures, soil and commercial substrates (Serrano et al, 2012;Barros et al, 2013;). However, research has been done with alternative substrates from sugar cane residues (Serrano et al, 2006), sawdust biochar (Barros et al, 2017), sewage sludge (Boechat et al, 2013), and decomposed buriti stem (Silva-Matos et al, 2016). Regarding the production and use of substrates from lumps of acerola and Brazil nut peels, no studies have been found in the literature.…”

Substratos na produção inicial de mudas de Carica papaya L e Passiflora edulis Sims / Substrates in the initial production of seedlings OF Carica papaya L and Passiflora edulis Sims

“…Na literatura, há diversos relatos de ótimo desempenho do maracujazeiro com os substratos comerciais, como Plantmax® em mistura ou de forma isolada (Lima et al, 2016), ou Mecplant® (Barros et al, 2017), corroborando com os resultados obtidos no presente estudo. Por outro lado, ainda que o tratamento S3 tenha obtido resultados similares aos demais substratos, o mesmo geralmente é utilizado em combinação com outros substratos para produção de mudas, pois apresenta características como uniformidade na composição química, tamanho do grão, porosidade, capacidade de retenção de água e baixa densidade, proporcionando maior facilidade, consequentemente, maior velocidade de emergência das mudas (Martins et al, 2009).…”

Production of watermelon seedlings in different substrates under salt stress

“…It is worth noting that the substrate plays an important role in the obtaining of quality seedlings, as it must provide a favorable environment, favoring the adequate supply of water and air, and have an excellent texture, structure, pH, and fertility (Barros et al, 2017;Santos et al, 2022). Among the available alternative materials, it is found that biochar, with its benefits related to its properties (high porosity, high retention, and availability of water and high cation exchange capacity), favors the retention of nutrients, thereby avoiding their losses and the direct nutrient supply (Laurentino et al, 2021).…”