Yield of Mulato II grass inoculated with Bradyrhizobium sp. and Glomus cubense under agricultural drought conditions

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out, under conditions of agricultural drought, to evaluate the effect of an isolate of Bradyrhizobium sp. and a strain of Glomus cubense in Brachiaria hibrido cv. CIAT 36087 (Mulato II), in order to select the best treatment for its subsequent evaluation under different edaphoclimatic conditions and cultivars of this species. In 1 ha, cultivated with Mulato II for three years, five divisions of 0.20 ha each were carried out. After deep grazing, treatments were applied. The inoculation was carried out according to established methodologies. The experimental design was of control plots, with 5 treatments and 5 replications. ANOVA analysis was performed. Differences among means were determined by Duncan test. Treatments consisted of simple applications of inoculants, the combination of these, absolute control and fertilized control. In the 1st cut, yield of aerial biomass with Ho5 + INCAM4 (6.14 t ha-1) was superior to the rest of inoculated treatments and to control, although lower than the fertilized control. In the 2nd cut, this combination was superior to the rest of treatments (6.56 t ha-1), except for the fertilized control, which was repeated in the 3rd cut, with a yield of 6.35 t ha-1. CP content was higher in Ho5 + INCAM4 (9.01%), with respect to the inoculated treatments and to the control, although inferior to the fertilized control. In nutrient extraction, with this combination, as well as with the simple application of INCAM4, statistical superiority was observed. In general, it can be concluded that the combination of Bradyrhizobium sp. and G. cubense, in the three cuts, showed superior results in the aerial biomass yield and in the CP content of plants, although the inoculation only with G. cubense, and in combination with Bradyrhizobium sp., led to a greater P extraction.
Key words: inoculants, Brachiaria hibrido, aerial biomass, extraction