Bovine manure for fertilization of pastures

Dear readers, in the field of agriculture, a series of problems have been generated due to the misuse of agricultural practices, especially due to the application of synthetic chemicals that are detrimental to natural processes, which makes us reflect on the interactions that are generated in agrosystems. It is for this reason that the interest of implementing strategies that allow the use of residues from livestock farms, such as bovine manure under the anaerobic fermentation technique that results in biol, and aerobic as manure tea to be used as organic fertilizer, is born.

In this sense, manure and waste generated in livestock production facilities constitute a resource of great nutritional and biological value that can improve soil fertility, yield and quality of forage crops, from aerobic and anaerobic fermentation. In the production of forage crops, especially in grazing grasses, the effect of the application of manure and biol tea made from bovine excrement has been studied in the State of Zulia, specifically in the Colón Municipality, in species such as estrella (Cynodon nlemfuensis) and guinea (Megathyrsus maximus) in research carried out by Pineda, Amaris, Rangel and Amesty, (2013) and Amesty, Canovas and Pineda (2014). 2014).

One of the trials mentioned in the previous section was developed at the el Retiro production unit located in Santa Cruz, Zulia state, with the aim of evaluating the effect of bovine manure tea on the agronomic behavior and nutritional value of star grass (Cynodon. nlemfuensis in which concentrations of 0, 15, 25 and 40% of manure tea were applied respectively, in the results related to the height it was found that there was a statistically significant difference (P≤ 0.05) between the pastures that were not fertilized compared to what was fertilized with manure tea, demonstrating a positive response to organic fertilization with this type of product. The species reached a height of 56.81 and 57.14 cm with the concentration of 15 and 25% respectively.

The production of green (BV) and dry (BS) biomass expressed in Kg / ha was also evaluated in the same trial, the results showed higher yields with the 25% fertilization level with which 11,520.8 Kg/ha of BV and 2,472.2 Kg/ha of BS were obtained while for the 40% fertilization level 11,395.8 and 2,457.2 Kg /ha of BV and BS respectively were obtained, which could be attributed to the the ability of manure to supply nitrogen, in addition to calcium, magnesium and micro nutrients.

On the other hand, another test was carried out where biol was applied in a pasture established with M egathyrsus maximus grass (Guinea) and a behavior similar to the previous experiment was obtained, in which the height had a positive response to fertilization with the liquid organic product, obtaining values of 97.20; 82.23; 85.50 and 88.33 cm corresponding to the height and values of 1.96; 1.37; 1.52 and 1.59 cm / day for the doses 0, 180, 200 and 220 l / ha belonging to the growth rate respectively, indicating that the height of the plant is increased when fertilizers are applied whose base is bovine manure after an anaerobic fermentation process, since, this type of fertilizers are promoters of plant growth, roots and even the fruits themselves, since in that process plant hormones are produced from the wastes of the metabolism of the typical bacteria that act in the fermentation process anaerobic.

As it has been observed during the development of the aforementioned research, the fertilization of grasslands is a fundamental practice to obtain an adequate yield and quality of forage species, which are part of the components of the agroecosystem and intervene directly in the nutrition of herbivorous animals such as cattle, which represent the greatest food demand for humans. In cattle farming, the production of milk and / or meat depends to a large extent on the feeding of the herd and activity highly related to the quality and yield of the forage obtained per unit area.

It can also be evidenced with the socialized data of the researches carried out in the south of Lake Maracaibo, the capacity that the liquid organic fertilizers present from the excreta vaccines, to increase the availability of nutrients to the plants, which translates into a gradual increase in the yields and nutritional value of the forages. By comparing these products with a nitrogen fertilizer of synthetic origin, it allows analyzing that both alternatives are viable with the difference that organic fertilization does not unbalance agricultural ecosystems.