Avaliação e disponibilidade de enxofre em solos cultivados com cana-de-açúcar em Pernambuco.

Abstract

Burning sugarcane for harvesting causes expressive volatization of the sulfur in the plant material, worsening possible nutrient deficiencies over the short and medium time-scales. This research aimed to generate data for using mineral gypsum from Araripe-PE region as a sulfur source for sugarcane. Five field experiments were installed in soils of different textural classes. In all experiments, the experimental design employed was randomized blocks. In each experiment the treatments were formed by combining five mineral gypsum levels and three chemical extractors, with three replicates. The treatments were evaluated at two soil sampling times, and two different depths. Sulfur doses were defined by liming requirement, calculated by the exchangeable aluminum neutralization and or calcium exchangeable content method, for the 0.4-0.6 soil depth layer. Soil sulfur contents were determined by three extractors. Ammonium acetate in acetic acid extracted the most sulfur in clayey soils, with low P-rem values and higher organic matter contents, while calcium chloride presented the lowest sulfur extraction power, under the same conditions. Calcium phosphate, with phosphorus and in the presence of acetic acid, extracted sulfur efficiently, independently of soil chemical and physical characteristics. The values ofthe critical levels varied among soils. In the soil S1 ST varied from 9,64 to 122,98 mg dm-3, in the soil S2 CC varied from 12,71 to 153,43 mg dm-3, in the soil S3 PE varied from 1,47 to 41,03 mg dm-3, in the soil S4 TR varied from 6,70 to 190,8 mg dm-3 and in the soil S5 SA varied from 28,46 to 162,46 mg dm-3; and were higher in clayey soils, with low P-rem values and higher organic matter contents. Trapiche´s critical sulfur leaf content was 0.29 dag.kg-1. Sulfur extracted by the chemical extractors correlated with leaf sulfur content and accumulation, with the highestcorrelation coefficient being for calcium chloride, in surface and subsurface.