Agriculture, Vol. 15, Pages 2128: Organic and Mineral Fertilization on the Photosynthetic, Nutritional, and Productive Efficiency of (Ficus carica L.) Subjected to Conduction Systems in a Semi-Arid Region of Brazil
Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture15202128
Authors:
Agda Malany Forte de Oliveira
Vander Mendonça
Patrycia Elen Costa Amorim
Raires Irlenizia da Silva Freire
Lucas Rodrigues Bezerra da Silva
David Emanoel Gomes da Silva
Fagner Nogueira Ferreira
Semako Ibrahim Bonou
Luderlândio de Andrade Silva
Pedro Dantas Fernandes
Alberto Soares de Melo
Francisco Vanies da Silva Sá
Fig tree growth and development are highly susceptible to variations influenced by abiotic factors and management practices, including fertilization and training systems. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of organic and mineral fertilization on the photosynthetic, nutritional, and productive efficiency of fig trees subjected to different training systems in semi-arid regions. The experimental design was randomized blocks in a 5 × 4 factorial scheme, with three blocks and three plants per plot. The treatments consisted of five fertilizer sources (mineral fertilizer (NPK) applied at a dose of 126 g N, 90 g P, and 90 g K per plant (M); and four organic sources—cattle manure (CM), organic compost (OC), chicken litter (CL), and sheep manure (SM), all applied at a dose of 10 kg per plant); and four types of training systems (plants with two branches (2B), three branches (3B), four branches (4B), and espalier). Our results demonstrated that the mineral fertilizer (M) and chicken litter (CL) treatments yielded the highest results, particularly in photosynthetic performance. Fig trees fertilized with mineral fertilizer and subjected to the 3B system showed enhanced net photosynthesis (36.96 µmol m−2 s−1) and, consequently, higher productivity of 21.28 t ha−1. Similarly, plants fertilized with chicken litter (CL) under the 4B system produced comparable results. These findings demonstrate that the use of mineral and organic fertilizers, combined with an appropriate training system, is a viable strategy for optimizing fig productivity and profitability in semi-arid conditions.
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