Use of organomineral in magnesium-saturated soil: Influence on the morphogenetic characteristics of forage sorghum
Environmental sustainability; Soil conditioner; Forage production; Industrial waste
The Earth's crust encompasses vast areas affected by salts, covering 8.5% of its total surface area. The excess of these minerals represents an environmental liability that compromises agricultural lands. This study aimed to evaluate the organomineral fertiliser (OMF) for its ability to enhance the morphogenetic characteristics of forage sorghum cv. IPA 467-4-2 cultivated in magnesium-saturated soil. To this end, an experiment was conducted with seven treatments: agricultural gypsum at 100% of the recommended dose (CM), dairy sludge at 100% of the recommended dose (CO), and four treatments with OMFs formulated with CO at 100% and varying levels of CM at 100; 75; 50 and 25%, as well as a control treatment without CO or CM. The CO and OMF treatments demonstrated improvements compared to the control in the variables: number of tillers, total number of leaves, leaf length, number of fully expanded leaves, and expanding leaves, with increases of 75; 142; 44; 9 and 193%, respectively, considering the overall average across cycles. Among the OMFs, the one containing 25% CM showed the highest morphogenetic development of forage sorghum plants in all evaluation cycles. The application of OMF in agricultural systems aims to ensure productivity in marginalised areas, transforming industrial waste into high-value inputs and promoting an efficient integration of environmental sustainability and agricultural productivity.