Crescimento e desenvolvimento inicial da cultura da moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) submetida à fertilização orgânica Organic fertilization levels on the vegetative growth of moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.)

Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam) is a tree native of India and high importance especially for its nutritional value, medicinal and water purification. This work aimed to evaluate the effect of organic fertilization levels on growth and initial development of moringa seedlings in semi-arid conditions of the State of Paraiba, Brazil. The experiment was conducted in plastic tunnel conditions, located in the Centro de Ciencias e tecnologia Agroalimentar da Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Campus de Pombal, UFCG. We used a completely randomized design with the treatments composed of seven levels of organic fertilization (0,0; 108,0; 216,0; 432,0; 864,0; 1728,0 e 3456,0 g.vaso -1 ), with four repetitions. The following parameters were evaluated: i) plant height (cm), ii) stem diameter (mm), iii) number of leaves, iv) fresh weight of leaves, v) dry weight of shoots (g), vi) dry weight of the root (g), vii) dry weight ratio of shoot / root (g) and viii) main root length (cm). The use of organic fertilization levels significantly influenced the growth and early development of moringa seedlings. With the rise of manure levels added to the substrate, there was the decrease of the variables analyzed, with a best result the level of 864.0 g.vaso -1 for plant height and the level of 432.0 g.vaso -1 for the other parameters. The level of 432.0 g.vaso -1 caused the greatest increases in dry weight of shoot and root length. The levels of bovine manure 108.0 g.vaso -1 and 432.0 g.vaso -1 , promoted a greater increase for the ratio of root / shoot and root length, respectively. To produce good quality moringa seedlings the application of small amounts of bovine manure is sufficient.