Data/hora: 31/05/2024 06:49:43

Biblioteca(s): 	Embrapa Florestas.	
Data corrente: 	23/09/2008	
Data da última atualização: 	23/09/2008	
Autoria: 	MONROY, F.; LAZCANO, C.; BUTRÓN, A.; DOMÍNGUEZ, J.	
Título: 	Non-nutritional effects of vermicompost on insect herbivory in four maize varieties (Zea mays L.).	
Ano de publicação: 	2008	
Fonte/Imprenta: 	In: INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON SOIL ZOOLOGY, 15; INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON APTERYGOTA, 12., 2008, Curitiba. Biodiversity, conservation and sustainabele management of soil animal: abstracts. Colombo: Embrapa Florestas. Editors: George Gardner Brown; Klaus Dieter Sautter; Renato Marques; Amarildo Pasini. 1 CD-ROM.	
Idioma: 	Inglês	
Conteúdo: 	Vermicomposts are used as organic amendments and potting media in plant production,
providing nutrients and other substances that favor plant growth. Moreover, vermicomposts
contain specialized microbial and faunal communities which may also affect plant performance
in different ways. In order to assess these non-nutritional effects of vermicomposts on plant
quality, a herbivory assay with four maize varieties was carried out in the field. The effects of the
addition of raw rabbit manure vermicompost were compared to the effects of rabbit manure and
mineral fertilization on the damage caused by a generalist stem borer. The doses of the fertilizers
were adjusted to a normal NPK mineral fertilization for expected final grain productions of 4 and
6 Tm/Ha, and the nutrient content was balanced among the treatments. The four maize varieties
were obtained through the combination of su1 or sh2 genes (sweet and superweet corn genes,
respectively) with two different genetic backgrounds (locally adapted maize varieties).
Experimental units consisted of 10 m2 plots with the combination of maize variety x type of
fertilizer x dose. Twenty-six seeds were planted in each plot and plots were distributed following
a randomized design. After two months, five plants were harvested and plant growth and biomass
were measured. In addition, 40-60 eggs of the noctuid stem borer Sesamia nonagriodes were
inoculated in other five plants of each plot. One month later, the insected plants were harvested
and numbers of larvae, percentage of cob damage and length of the stem galleries were recorded.
The growth of the plants was influenced by the dose but not by the type of fertilizer. Although plant
damage produced by the stem borer was positively correlated with plant height, the number of
larvae and the damage caused to the plants did not increase with higher doses of fertilizer.
Neither did the type of fertilizer affect herbivory and population size of the stem borer. Differences
in herbivory were mainly determined by plant genotype. Plant damage and density of S.
nonagriodes were greater in sh2 than in su1 mutants, independently of the genetic background
considered. Nevertheless cob damage was consistently different for the two locally adapted
varieties. Remarkably, at high doses of vermicompost the stem damage was different depending
on the plant genotype, indicating the existence of significant non-nutritional effects of
vermicompost on plant quality. These results suggest that some plant genotypes may be benefited
from the aplication of vermicompost because of lower herbivory pressure.	
Categoria do assunto: 	--	
Registro original: 	Embrapa Florestas (CNPF)	
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