Desenvolvimento inicial de mudas de cacaueiro de várzea submetidas a inoculação por microrganismos e adubação química

Abstract

Cocoa farming is an economic activity that has stood out on the global stage, as it provides employment and income for several traditional communities. However, there is a growing demand for innovative and sustainable approaches to ensure the continuity and quality of this sector. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of inoculating two microorganisms (Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae) associated with different dosages of chemical fertilizers, these being 50% and 100%, on the growth of cocoa seedlings. The design used was completely randomized with five treatments and five replications, considering a control group with 100% chemical fertilization, treatment 1 with Metarhizium anisopliae + 100% fertilization; treatment 2 with Metarhizium anisopliae + 50% chemical fertilizer; treatment 3 with Beauveria bassiana + 100% chemical fertilizer and Beauveria bassiana + 50% chemical fertilizer totaling 25 plots. At 120 days, the following parameters were evaluated: plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, main root length, shoot dry mass, root dry mass, total dry mass and Dickson Quality Index. The data were subjected to parametric analysis of variance with post-hoc test, and Tukey's mean test with a significance of 5%. In short, the biometric variables and MSPA did not present significant results for all treatments, but there was significance for MSR, MST and IQD so that the M. anisopliae + 50% fertilizer treatment obtained the best response. The use of M. anisopliae microorganisms + 50% fertilization provided gains compared to B. bassiana, however, it was comparable to the use of chemical fertilizer alone.