Produção de forragem e características agronômicas de Capim-Piatã sob doses de nitrogênio

The objective of this work was to evaluate the dry mass production and other agronomic traits of Brachiaria brizantha cv. Piata receiving different nitrogen doses in the third year of production. The experiment was performed in the experimental area of the University of the State of Mato Grosso, Tangara da Serra – MT. Six nitrogen doses were studied (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 kg N/ha) in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Four cuts were performed and the following variables were analyzed: forage canopy height, production of forage mass and components, tiller population density, number of leaves and dry mass per tiller, and leaf/stem ratio. The collected data were submitted to analysis of variance by the F test and, if significant (P ≤ 0.05), regression analysis was performed. The forage canopy height, tiller population density, dry mass per tiller, dry mass/ha, dry mass of leaves/ha, and dry mass of shoots/ha of piata grass were influenced (P ≤ 0.05) and increased with increasing nitrogen doses up to 250 kg/ha. Dry mass content, number of leaves per tiller, leaf/stem ratio and dry mass of senescent material/ha did not respond to the nitrogen doses. Thus, it can be concluded that the nitrogen doses tested significantly increase the productive traits of piata grass and that the dose of 250 kg N/ha provides the best results.