NITROGEN FERTILIZATION USING AMMONIUM SULFATE PRODUCED FROM DIFFERENT RAW MATERIALS AND ITS EFFECT ON THE PHYTOTECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SUNFLOWER PLANTS (HELIANTHUS ANNUUS)
Abstract
Despite being one of the world’s leading producers of agricultural commodities, Brazil is a major importer of fertilizers, especially nitrogen-based fertilizers. This study aimed to develop a nitrogen fertilizer using residual ammonia from the steelmaking process and residual sulfuric acid. The following sources were evaluated: commercial ammonium sulfate, ammonium sulfate produced using commercial ammonia, and ammonium sulfate produced from residual ammonia from the steel industry and sulfuric acid derived from recycled automotive batteries. Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) was used as the test crop, cultivated in 300 mL pots, and fertilizers were applied at proportional rates of 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 kg N ha⁻¹. Plants were harvested and evaluated for fresh shoot mass, root dry mass, shoot dry mass, and shoot-to-root ratio. Sunflower plants showed a positive response to the different ammonium sulfate sources in both shoot and root development. Peak shoot productivity occurred at nitrogen rates between 80 and 100 kg N ha⁻¹, whereas root production peaked between 50 and 80 kg N ha⁻¹. Excess nitrogen application had a more pronounced negative effect on the root system. The ammonium sulfate produced from residual ammonia promoted increases in shoot biomass production of approximately 60%. These results indicate that ammonium sulfate derived from residual ammonia can be used as a raw material for nitrogen fertilizer production, with performance comparable to that of commercial fertilizers.
Author Biographies
Agronomist Engineer from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ, 1990), Master’s degree in Crop Science from UFRRJ/Embrapa Agrobiologia (1992), PhD in Crop Science (Plant Production) from the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV, 1997), and postdoctoral studies in Geosciences at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG, 2010).
Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from UFVJM (2014), Master’s degree in Metallic Structures from UFOP (2017), and specialization in Occupational Safety Engineering from UFSJ (2020). PhD candidate in Biofuels at UFVJM.
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