Crescimento e desenvolvimento inicial da cultura da moringa (Moringa oleifera L.) em função de níveis de salinidade e nitrogênio.

Abstract

Moringa (Moringa oleifera L.) is a shrub tolerant to drought, cultivated in semiarid regions of great economic importance in industry and medicine. The objective of this work was to evaluate the initial growth and development of M. oleifera as a function of saline levels and nitrogen fertilization. The experiment was carried out at the Agrofood Science and Technology Center, Federal University of Campina Grande, Pombal Campus. The sowing was done in 12-liter pots, using 12 seeds in each pot, after 15 days the thinning was done, removing ten plants in each pot, remaining the most vigorous. The experimental design was a randomized block design in a 4 x 4 factorial scheme, corresponding to four salinity levels S1 = 0.3 dSm-1, S2 = 1.8 dSm-1, S3 = 3.3 dSm-1 and S4 = 4.8 dSm-1, four levels of ammonium sulfate (NH4)2SO4 at the concentrations of N1 = 0g, N2 = 30g, N3 = 60g and N4 = 120g.vase-1. The variables analyzed were: leaf number, plant height, stem diameter, root length, fresh and dry shoot mass. The data were submitted to analysis of variance, applying the F test to the level of 5% and 1% of probability. It was observed that there was no interaction between the factors saline levels and nitrogen levels for the variables evaluated at 30 days. For saline levels there was no significant effect in isolation, with only a significant effect for nitrogen levels in isolation for the following variables: leaf numbers, stem diameter, plant height, fresh shoot mass, shoot dry mass. For the growth parameters of the crop except the length of the roots, they will show maximum values when the levels of nitrogen growing in the soil are used.