Author(s)

Edna Maria Bonfim-Silva^*, Denise César Soares, Paula Caroline Lima Silva, Ana Paula Alves Barreto Damasceno, Tonny José Araújo da Silva, Helon Hébano de Freitas Sousa

Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Federal University of Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, Brazil.

Cowpea, string Bean, or Macassar bean [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp] presents a short life cycle, low water requirement, develops in soils of low fertility, and has the ability to fix nitrogen from the air. In the Cerrado, the oxisols occupy practically all the flat to soft-wavy areas with little reserve of nutrients for the plants, in general, they are soils with great limitations of fertility. A source of alternative phosphate fertilization is the use of reactive natural phosphates. The reactive natural phosphate of Bayóvar presents intermediate solubility between the sources of soluble phosphates and the natural phosphates. In this context, the objective was to evaluate the initial development of Cowpea beans fertilized with the natural Bayóvar phosphate used for cultivation of the Brazilian Cerrado Oxisol. The experimental design was completely randomized, with six doses of phosphorus (0, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 mg·dm^-3) using natural Bayovar phosphate as a source in four replications. The species used in this study was the legume cowpea bean [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp] cultivar Tumucumaque. The treatments were applied using the natural phosphate Bayóvar as a source of phosphorus (29% of P₂O₅). At 33 DAS (days after sowing), the variable number of leaves of the Cowpea bean was analyzed and at 40 DAS, the variables plant height, SPAD chlorophyll index (Soil Plant Analysis Development) and stem diameter were analyzed. For all variables analyzed there was a significant effect. The initial development of the cowpea bean cultivated in the Brazilian Cerrado Oxisol was significantly influenced by the Bayóvar natural phosphate fertilization with the best phosphorus (P₂O₅) doses in the range of 200 to 350 mg·

Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp, Phosphate of Bayóvar, Oxisol

Bonfim-Silva, E. , Soares, D. , Silva, P. , Damasceno, A. , da Silva, T. and Sousa, H. (2018) Initial Development of Cowpea Bean Fertilized with Natural Phosphate in the Brazilian Cerrado Soil. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 9, 1381-1390. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2018.97100.