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Fertilization with Silicon in Garlic Grown at Low and High Altitudes in a Semi-arid Region

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Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the effect of Si fertilization on the growth and yield of common garlic under semi-arid cultivation conditions.

Methods

Two field experiments were conducted simultaneously in Mossoró and São Miguel, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design, in a 2 × 5 factorial scheme, with two sources of Si (calcium and potassium silicate) and five doses (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 kg ha−1) applied via foliar.

Results

Applying Si doses promoted increased height, dry mass, and yield of common garlic in Mossoró and São Miguel. The effect of Si doses on garlic was independent of the sources used since there was no significant effect for this factor on all variables. In Mossoró, the plants reached maximum height (51.38 cm) at the dose of 4.6 kg ha−1 of Si, higher accumulation of leaf dry matter (3.84 g per plant), bulb (4.53 g per plant) and total (8.37 g per plant) with 4 kg ha−1 of Si and higher commercial (2.72 t ha−1) and total (3.95 t ha−1) yield of bulbs at the doses of 4.1 and 4.4 kg ha−1 of Si, respectively. In São Miguel, the plants reached the highest height (57.09 cm) and total dry matter accumulation (9.74 g per plant) with 2.9 kg ha−1 of Si, maximum accumulation of bulb dry matter (7.10 g per plant) with 2.6 kg ha−1 of Si and higher values of commercial (6.62 t ha−1) and total (6.64 t ha−1) productivity applying 3.5 and 3.9 kg ha−1 of Si, respectively.

Conclusions

The foliar application of Si improves the growth and yield characteristics of common garlic bulbs grown in a semi-arid region. Using different sources of Si does not influence the growth and yield of common garlic.

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Data Availability

No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid Region and the Graduate Program in Soil and Water Management for their support in conducting the experiments and analyses.

Funding

UFERSA/EMBRAPA/SGAGRO.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agronomic and Forestry Sciences, Federal Rural University of Semi-Arid, Francisco Mota Street, Mossoró, 59625-900, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

    Renata Ramayane Torquato Oliveira, Leilson Costa Grangeiro, Éric George Morais, Dalbert de Freitas Pereira, Elidayane da Nóbrega Santos, Ilmara Beatriz Menezes Silva, Romualdo Medeiros Cortez Costa, Gerson Bruno Fernandes de Medeiros, Luiz Henrique de Araujo Carmo & Gabriela Carvalho Maia de Queiroz

Authors
  1. Renata Ramayane Torquato Oliveira
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Contributions

LCG was responsible for the study design; RRTO, EGM, DFP, RMCC, GBFM, LHAC, ENS, IBMS and GCMQ contributed to the conduction of the experiment, data collection, and analysis; RRTO, LCG and RMCC wrote the first version of the article.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Renata Ramayane Torquato Oliveira, Leilson Costa Grangeiro or Romualdo Medeiros Cortez Costa.

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Oliveira, R.R.T., Grangeiro, L.C., Morais, É.G. et al. Fertilization with Silicon in Garlic Grown at Low and High Altitudes in a Semi-arid Region. Silicon (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-024-02954-5

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