Bioinputs in the growth and production of maize plants

Abstract

Maize culture stands out for its socioeconomic importance, being one of the main foods produced in Brazil. However, maize cultivation is mostly produced within conventional production systems with great use of chemical inputs. In this sense, the insertion of new technologies in the production of agricultural products has intensified, with emphasis on bio-inputs, such as biofertilizers (manipueira and bovine biofertilizer) and fungi of the Trichoderma genus, highly desirable within the precepts of sustainable agriculture. Given the above, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the use of bioinputs Trichoderma spp., manipueira and bovine biofertilizer on the growth and production of maize plants, cultivar Verdão. The study was conducted in the city of São Francisco do Pará, with 5 treatments – namely, conventional fertilization, bovine biofertilizer, Trichoderma, Manipueira and Trichoderma + bovine biofertilizer – and 4 repetitions. The variables studied were plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, weight of green plant matter, stem, leaves, ear with straw and ear without straw, dry ear weight and grain weight. Qualitative data were evaluated through Tukey test at 5% probability and quantitative through regression analysis. It was found that the use of bovine biofertilizer, Trichoderma and manipueira positively affect the fresh mass of green ear with and without straw. It is concluded that the use of bioinputs exert a positive effect on the development of corn cobs, cultivar Verdão, and can be recommended as an organic fertilization strategy for corn plants in replacement of mineral fertilization.