Biostimulants in the fertilization of pastures

18 days ago (Edited)

Bovine livestock farming is generally fed based on pastures either natural or introduced, in that sense, it is important to mention that in agricultural or livestock systems plants return nutrients to the soil, this process is known as nutrient recycling and is naturally through the waste generated by plants (leaves, dead roots) and animals through manure when they are in grazing; it can be said that these surfaces are rich in organic matter, but even so sometimes they do not cover the requirements of established forage crops.

For the aforementioned reasons, it is necessary that adequate agronomic management is implemented in grassland ecosystems that allow for the growth and development of pastures, implementing various alternatives such as the application of organic biostimulants that maintain the balance of grazing systems and, together with this, potentiate the physiological processes of crops in search of obtaining better yields of forage biomass.

Currently, the use of biostimulants has begun to be implemented on a recurring basis in livestock production units, since, according to what was mentioned by Santos, Melo, Cardoso, Goncalves, Balcón, and Taubinger (2013), biostimulants contribute to improving plant growth by triggering specific physiological processes, with the aim of improving one or more of the following characteristics of plants, efficiency in the use of nutrients, abiotic stress tolerance and quality characteristics.

Due to the aforementioned, it is necessary to highlight that the biomass yield of these plants and the nutritional quality is often low, which generates the need to implement strategies to correct any deficiencies. In some agroecosystems of the southern area of Lake Maracaibo one of the symptoms presented by the forage areas is the low yield and quality of the pastures, among the possible causes is the inadequate management of fertilization practices that could be related to the non-fertilization of the pastures due to the increase in costs and the excessive or deficient use of inorganic fertilizers, which can result in low yields in production.

In that sense, Solórzano (quoted by Hurtado and Gutiérrez, 2019), pointed out that in Venezuela there are five (5) million hectares of grass planted and only 372,000 ha are fertilized, this being an indicator that there is no culture of seeing pastures as a crop and carrying out fertilization practices, much less applying other alternatives that promote the growth of pastures. On the other hand, the same authors indicated that in Venezuela some producers fertilize when sowing some fodder species of certain nutritional requirements.

Therefore, it is important to use strategies to properly manage pastures and thus promote their growth and improve their quality, currently there are alternatives such as the use of biological products such as biostimulants that would be indispensable to accompany and eventually replace the synthetic products that are conventionally used in the different production systems; since, due to the agricultural practices carried out for some years, a degradation of natural resources has been generated.

On the other hand, in relation to organic biostimulants González, Falcón, Jiménez, Jiménez, Silvente, and Terrero, (2012), mentioned that the study of biostimulants is of utmost importance because they act directly on the physiology of plants generating some benefits such as resistance to external factors, or improving their growth, development and productivity. Organic biostimulants are a way to innovate and provide livestock producers in their pastures with natural solutions that increase crop productivity and that in turn are friendly to the environment.

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Bibliographic references

Santos, V.; Melo, A.; Cardoso, D.; Goncalves, A.; Balcón, M. and Taubinger, M. (2013). Use of Biostimulants in Plant Growth of Zea mays L. Brazilian Journal of Maize and Sorghum 12 (3): 307-318.
Hurtado, K and Gutiérrez, O. (2019). Diagnosis of the use of fertilizers in the agronomic management programs of tropical pastures. Unpublished degree work. UNESUR, Zulia.
González, L.; Falcón, A.; Jiménez, M.; Jiménez, L.; Silvente, J. y Terrero, J. (2012). Evaluation of three doses of the biostimulant Chitosan in the cultivation of cucumber (Cucumis sativus) in a late period. Revista Amazónica Ciencia y Tecnología 1(2): 1-6. Accessed 20 Mar. 2018.

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