BIOCHAR FROM CHICKEN LITTER AND NPK

Biochar is an organic compound produced through the process of fast or slow pyrolysis, with the purpose of application to the soil, improving its physicochemical characteristics. Biochar can be produced from different biomass sources, such as agricultural waste and manure. Chicken litter is of special interest for the production of biochar in Brazil due to the high production generated per year. Greater efficiency of biochar application can be observed when it is associated with mineral fertilization because of its low availability of nutrients. Existing information on the use of biochar in production systems, are still scarce, lacking studies focused on its use in sunflower crop, therefore, this research aimed to evaluate the effect of biochar from chicken litter (four doses) in combination with mineral fertilizer (five doses of NPK) in sunflower crop cv. Embrapa 122/V2000. 3. Fertilization with biochar, starting at 400 g/vessel, promoted reduced growth and production components of sunflower due to increased soil salinity. Fertilization with 400 g/vessel increased the production of achene.