Fósforo como atenuador dos efeitos da deficiência hídrica em diferentes espécies de gramíneas forrageiras

Abstract

Water deficit caused by dry seasonal influences the relationship between water and gas exchange in tropical forage grasses, reducing their productive potential. In addition, the large phosphorus deficiency of Brazilian soils adds to the set of factors limiting crop production. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the responses to phosphorus supplementation for mitigating the damage caused by water stress of different forage species. Seeds of Brachiaria brizantha cv. MG-4, Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk, Panicum maximum cv. Aries, Panicum maximum cv. Tanzania and Paspalum atratum cv. Pojuca were germinated in pots containing 10 liters of red-yellow podzolic soil. The treatments were two levels of phosphorus, 8 mg P dm-3 (the original control soil after liming) and 100 mg P dm-3 , obtained with P supplementation of 6.0 g/pot, with triple superphosphate fertilizer [CaH4(PO4)2+H2O]. After the process of inducing water stress, with two irrigation regimes according with the evaporation of a mini Class A, with 100% and 40% replacement of water transpired, were evaluated biometric parameters, photosynthetic capacity, evaluation of leaf water potential and soil chemical characteristics. The data were submitted to analysis of variance (ANOVA, p < 0.05), and subsequently the means were compared by Tukey test (p < 0.05). The results showed that, comparing plants grown under water stress, it becomes clear the mitigating effect of phosphorus supplementation, especially considering the effects on the maintenance of growth. With three different patterns of P extraction under water restriction among the species, the cultivar MG-4 was the most responsive to P supplementation in the growth indicators and maximum CO2 assimilation rate (AMAX), under conditions of adequate hydration. In general, the photosynthetic capacity of the cultivars was not changed under the water stress conditions applied in this study.