Nutrition and production of coconut palm cultivated with mineral fertilization in the state of Pará

Abstract

Fertilization greatly affects coconut productivity; nevertheless, information on crop nutrition is relatively scarce for coconut in the state of Pará, Brazil. This study evaluated the effect of fertilization with nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and magnesium (Mg) on the nutritional status and coconut yield under the edaphoclimatic conditions of the municipality of Moju, Pará State (Brazil). The experiment was conducted for 10 years on a SOCOCO® Farm and used a randomized block design with three replications. Three levels of P, K, and Mg were used in presence and absence of N. Response to fertilization in the treatments was studied in terms of leaf concentration of macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S) and micronutrients (B and Cl). We also assessed the number of coconuts/plant/year, fresh albumen weight (FAW)/coconut and FAW/ha/year. The results were subjected to the analysis of variance (p<0.05) and the means compared by the Tukey test. In general, N fertilization did not influence concentration of macronutrients and micronutrients in leaves. In turn, P, K and Mg fertilization influenced nutrition of coconut palm. P and K fertilizations, isolated or in combination, increased the production of coconut/plant and FAW/ha. From the 6th year of plant age, 54 kg/ha/year of P2O5 and 96 kg/ha/year of K2O are indicated for the coconut culture in the region of the current study. N fertilization did not influence production parameters and Mg fertilization increased production in the presence of K fertilization.