Nativa, Sinop, v. 10, n. 1, p. 01-04, 2022.

Pesquisas Agrárias e Ambientais

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31413/nativa.v10i1.11824 ISSN: 2318-7670

Adequate use of nitrogen associated with molybdenum in crambe crop

Tiago Roque Benetoli da SILVA1*, Andressa Gomes BRANDÃO1, Deonir SECCO2,

Reginaldo Ferreira SANTOS2, Charline Zaratin ALVES3, Araceli Ciotti MARINS4

1Department of Agronomic Sciences, State University of Maringá, Umuarama, PR, Brazil.

2 State University of Western Paraná, Cascavel, PR, Brazil.

3Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Chapadão do Sul, MS, Brazil.

4 Federal Technological University of Paraná, Toledo, PR, Brazil.

*E-mail: trbsilva@uem.br

(ORCID: 0000-0002-2015-2103; 0000-0002-2550-3857; 0000-0002-3042-159X; 0000-0002-7745-9173;

0000-0001-6228-078X; 0000-0001-8932-7015)

Recebido em 11/02/2021; Aceito em 07/09/2021; Publicado em 14/03/2022.

ABSTRACT: Crambe is serving as alternative oilseed for biodiesel production, however, there are still

impediments to commercial expansion because need more information about adequate fertilization. The study

aimed evaluating adequate nitrogen rate applied in topdressing, associated with leaf molybdenum in crambe

crop under field conditions. Treatments were four nitrogen rates (0, 40, 80 and 120 kg N ha-1) and two rates of

leaf molybdenum (0, 80 g ha-1) in a 4 x 2 factorial under randomized complete block design experiment with

four replications. Parameters evaluated were shoot dry matter, thousand grains weight, grain yield and oil content

in the seed. There was no significant influence of treatments on thousand grains mass. Nitrogen rates linearly

increased dry matter shoots and oil content. Grain yield growth as nitrogen increased. When molybdenum was

used, grain yield increased significantly when compared to the absence of nutrient application.

Keywords: Nitrogen fertilizer; leaf molybdenum; oilseed.

Uso adequado do nitrogênio associado ao molibdênio no cultivo de crambe

RESUMO: O Crambe é uma oleaginosa que serve como alternativa para a produção de biodiesel, porém, ainda

existem impedimentos à expansão comercial, pois são necessárias mais informações sobre a fertilização

adequada. O estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a dose adequada de nitrogênio aplicada em cobertura, associada

ao molibdênio foliar na cultura do crambe em condições de campo. Os tratamentos foram quatro doses de

nitrogênio (0, 40, 80 e 120 kg N ha-1) e duas doses de molibdênio foliar (0, 80 g ha-1) em esquema fatorial 4 x 2

em delineamento de blocos ao acaso com quatro repetições. Os parâmetros avaliados foram matéria seca da

parte aérea, massa de mil grãos, rendimento de grãos e teor de óleo na semente. Não houve influência

significativa dos tratamentos na massa de mil grãos. As doses de nitrogênio aumentaram linearmente a matéria

seca da parte aérea e o teor de óleo. Houve incremento da produtividade de grãos com o aumento do nitrogênio.

Quando o molibdênio foi utilizado, a produtividade de grãos aumentou significativamente em relação à ausência

de aplicação desse nutriente.

Palavras-chave: Adubação nitrogenada; molibdênio via foliar; oleaginosa.

1. INTRODUCTION

Crambe (Crambe abyssinica) is important crop and its oil

has high erucic acid content which can be used as an

industrial lubricant and corrosion inhibitor (LARA-

FIOREZE et al., 2013).

This plant species is cultivated in winter, with high oil

content in grains, serving as raw material to make biodiesel

(SILVA et al., 2012), biofuel production from vegetable oils

is a global reality (LARA-FIOREZE et al., 2013).

It is interesting to expand and search for alternative raw

materials, to evaluate the attributes such as oil content, grain

yield, production system and crop cycle, as well as grains that

are not used as food source, ensuring the system

sustainability. Therefore, the species in question becomes

alternative because it is a winter crop (SILVA et al., 2012),

however, there are still impediments to its commercial

expansion in the country, since information such as

evaluation appropriate sowing season in different States,

fertilization, density and the loss of crop yields, as well as

market structuring are not well understood (PITOL et al.,

2010; LARA-FIOREZE et al., 2013).

To most cultivated species, fertilizers are the costliest

inputs, and their efficient use is key to optimal ensuring grain

yield. However, studies regarding the response to crambe

fertilization are still scarce. It is known that the plant absorbs

high amount of nitrogen (N), which is due to the need of

grain, to its high protein content (SOUZA et al., 2009),

however, we did not observe in the literature,

recommendations of nitrogen fertilization to crambe.

To increase nitrogen application efficiency, molybdenum

use becomes important. Among molybdenum functions is

the nitrate reductase enzyme constitution (DECHEN et al.,

2018). This enzyme has three prosthetic groups, one of which

is molybdenum cofactor, which associated with pterine,

originates the molybdopterin complex (SOUZA;

Adequate use of nitrogen associated with molybdenum in crambe crop

Nativa, Sinop, v. 10, n. 1, p. 01-04, 2022.

FERNANDES, 2018). As stated by Dechen et al. (2018)

plants that have molybdenum deficiency present nitrate

accumulation, causing symptoms similar to nitrogen lack.

It is worth mentioning that the use without fertilizer

criteria can lead to serious environmental problems.

Excessively applied fertilizer was lost through leaching,

resulting in problems, such as soil acidification and nitrate

leaching (ENEJI et al., 2013). There are several reports on

nitrate occurrence in drinking water sources, especially in

groundwater (SHAKYA; GOSH, 2018). Eneji et al. (2013)

affirmed the underground water pollution associated with

nitrate leaching has become major concern in areas with

intensive cereal production. Besides all this, nitrogen is

expensive agricultural input. Therefore, nitrogen rational use

becomes essential for agricultural system that the

sustainability and reduction of drinking water contamination.

Yin et al. (2018) highlighted sustainable utilization of

agricultural wastes is an effective approach to alleviate

problem with residues.

In view of on this regard, the study aimed to determine

adequate nitrogen rate applied in topdressing, with its

association the leaf molybdenum in crop crambe.

2. MATERIAL AND METHODS

The experiment was conducted under field conditions, at

Universidade Estadual de Maringa, Regional Campus of

Umuarama, Parana State, Brazil, at 23º47 'south latitude and

53º14' west longitude. The region presents subhumid climate

with annual average temperature of 24 °C and precipitation

of 1,600 mm. The soil is Oxisol Dystrophic with a sandy

texture (USDA, 1998).

Soil samples were collected approximately 50 days before

the experiment and presented the following results in the 0-

20 cm layer: 4.8 mg dm-3 phosphorus (Mehlich 1); 10.25 g kg-

1 of Organic Matter; 5.28 pH in CaCl2; 0.19; 0.25; 0.14 and

7.47 cmolc dm-3 of K, Ca, Mg and capacity of cation change,

respectively, bases saturation of 58%.

Treatments were four nitrogen application rates on

topdressing (0, 40, 80 and 120 kg N ha-1) and two rates of leaf

molybdenum application (0, 80 g ha-1) in a 4 x 2 factorial in a

randomized complete block design experiment with four

replications of each treatment combination. The nitrogen

source was urea (45% N) and molybdenum was sodium

molybdate (39% Mo). Nitrogen rates were chosen according

to the concentrations adopted in other experiments with

crambe (SILVA et al., 2012; SILVA et al., 2013). As there is

no recommendation of molybdenum dose for crambe, the

rate used in other plant species, such as common bean

(SILVA et al., 2006), was adopted.

Experimental area was desiccated whit glyphosate three

days before sowing and fertilized with 360 kg ha-1 of the

formulated 10-17-17, using soil analysis and

recommendations to crop (PITOL et al., 2010). The nitrogen

rate applied at sowing was not taken into account for the

calculation of the top-dressing rates. Thus, sowing was

performed manually on May 30, 2014, with the cultivar of

Crambe FMS-Brilhante. The plots consisted of 4 lines with 4

meters in length and row spacing of 0.35 m, totaling 32 plots.

In 30 days after sowing, the nitrogen fertilization was applied

in a single rate in topdressing on the same day with foliar

fertilization with molybdenum according to the proposed

treatments. Nitrogen fertilization was carried out beside the

plants row, with subsequent incorporation, in order to

minimize losses by volatilization. Nitrogen was applied first,

and then molybdenum was applied.

In order to control weeds, manual weeding was

performed whenever necessary and in relation to pest and

disease control during crop growth, this was not necessary.

Approximately 90 days after the emergence of plants, the

final population of plants was counted, observing about

800,000 plants ha-1 in all plots. The harvest was done

manually, collecting two meters of the two central lines,

which were considered as useful area of each plot. The

cleaning of harvested grains was carried out with the aid of

sieves, removing impurities from harvest and thus leaving

grains clean. Evaluated parameters were shoot dry matter,

mass of thousand grains, grain yield, standardized to 13%

moisture, following the adopted methodologies of Silva et al.

(2013) and oil content in the seeds.

Oil content determination was performed after removing

water from the grains by the method of extraction through

the muffle and use of linear regression equation for

converting weight to oil data (SILVA et al., 2015)

Statistical analysis was carried out by subjecting the data

to analysis of variance, the means from application or not of

molybdenum were compared by the Tukey test. The averages

adjustment originated to application of nitrogen rates by

linear regression was verified. All the evaluations were

performed by the Sisvar computer program (FERREIRA,

2011), with a 5% probability of error.

3. RESULTS

It is observed that nitrogen application in topdressing

significantly increased the shoot dry matter regardless of leaf

molybdenum application (Table 1). Note that there was

significant adjustment in positive linear regression for this

parameter (Figure 1A).

It can be seen that the treatments did not significantly

influence thousand grain mass (Table 1), demonstrating that

these nutrients did not influence grain density and size.

Table 1. Shoot dry matter (kg ha-1), thousand grains mass (g), and

oil content (%) of crambe seeds, as function of nitrogen topdressing

fertilization and leaf molybdenum.

Tabela 1. Matéria seca da parte aérea (kg ha-1), massa de 1.000 grãos

(g), teor de óleo (%) de sementes de crambe, em função da adubação

nitrogenada em cobertura e molibdênio via foliar.

Tre

atment

Shoot dry

matter

Thousand

grain mass

Oil content

Nitrogen kg ha

-1

kg ha

-1

920

8.0

28.3

1,690

7.6

29.8

1,780

7.7

30.3

120

3,952

7.9

31.2

Molybdenum

g ha

-1

2,000

7.8

30.0

2,120

7.8

29.9

C.V. (%)

9.8

6.0

8.0

Test

Nitrogen (N)

n.s.

Molybdenum (Mo)

n.s.

N x Mo

n.s.

* = significant at 5% probability of error; Averages followed by the same

letter, within the molybdenum parameter, do not differ among themselves

by the Tukey test at 5% of error probability; C.V. = coefficient of variation.

It is noted that the contented oil was significantly

influenced by nitrogen application, but not with

molybdenum addition (Table 1). To grain yield, there was a

Silva et al.

Nativa, Sinop, v. 10, n. 1, p. 01-04, 2022.

significant interaction between nitrogen and molybdenum

factors, shown in Table 2. It can be observed that the crambe

is responsive to nitrogen, regardless of the use or not of

molybdenum, however, with the use of this micronutrient the

yield increased even more.

Figure 1. (A) Dry matter shoots (kg ha-1) and (B) oil content (%), as

function of nitrogen topdressing fertilization and leaf molybdenum.

* = significant at 5% probability.

Figura 1. (A) Matéria seca da parte aérea (kg ha-1) e (B) teor de óleo

(%), em função da adubação nitrogenada em cobertura e

molibdênio via foliar. * = significativo a 5% de probabilidade.

Table 2. Grain yield (kg ha-1) unfolding as a function of nitrogen

topdressing fertilization and leaf molybdenum, for crambe at

Universidade Estadual de Maringa, Regional Campus of Umuarama,

Paraná State, Brazil.

Table 2. Produtividade de grãos (kg ha-1) em função da adubação

nitrogenada em cobertura e molibdênio via foliar no crambe.

Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Campus Regional de

Umuarama, Paraná-Brasil.

Molybdenum

Nitrogen (kg ha

-1

)

g ha

-1

120

492 a

689 a

1,047 b

1,275 b

526 a

763 a

1,275 a

1,757 a

*Y=6.7675x + 469.7 R2= 0.98 (p<0,05)

**Y=10.513x + 449.5 R2= 0.97 (p<0,05)

Means followed by the same letter in the column, do not differ by Tukey

test at 5% of error probability.

Variation coefficient = 7.2%

4. DISCUSSION

Nitrogen application in topdressing significantly

increased the shoot dry matter regardless of leaf

molybdenum application. There was then an increasing linear

increase as a function of the application of this

macronutrient. This was due to the fact that nitrogen, when

absorbed both in the form of nitrate and ammonium, can be

incorporated into carbon chains, causing increase of

vegetable mass (SOUZA; FERNANDES, 2018). This result

agrees with the one obtained by Barbosa et al. (2010), that

when studying nitrogen fertilization with molybdic in

common bean, found that there was a greater accumulation

of dry matter, as nitrogen fertilization rate increased. When

evaluating crambe development in relation to N application,

at 30, 45 and 60 DAE, Vechiatto (2011) also obtained N

effect on dry matter accumulation of crambe.

Colodetti et al. (2013), when analyzing plants grown

under conditions of N deficiency, noticed a drastic reduction

in size, reduced leaf area (small leaves) and shortening of

phenological cycle, reaching the flowering stage in a short

time period. Same authors concluded that all deficiencies of

macronutrients promote limitation in the crambe plants

biomass production and N deficiency generates loss of

biomass accumulation 94.82%, thus, a linear decrease in

shoot dry matter of crambe plants was observed, with N

deficiency in soil.

Observed the nitrogen did not influence grain density and

size, available by thousand grains mass. A result similar to

that found by Silva et al. (2013), that when evaluating crambe

plants in several growth periods, found that nitrogen did not

influence in this parameter. Similar results were found by

Nascimento et al. (2009), that when studying nitrogen and

molybdic fertilizer rates in common bean, also did not obtain

significant differences in relation to grain mass.

These results also agree with those found by Chaves;

Ledur (2014), when evaluating increasing nitrogen rates and

phosphate fertilization in crambe, found that the mass of

1,000 grains was not influenced by fertilization. According to

Silva et al. (2013), nitrogen presents functions to formation

of amino acids, proteins, nitrogen bases, formation of

chlorophyll, vegetation and tillers increase, causing plant to

grow more and produce more fruits and grains, not

increasing density necessarily. This was the case in the present

experiment, with increase in shoot dry mass without

increasing the 1,000 grains mass. Nitrogen application caused

increase in your growth, however, the energy produced by

the photosynthesis enlarged by increasing N (EPSTEIN;

BLOOM, 2006) causes the plant to produce more grains, but

with the same density.

There was a significant adjustment in positive linear

regression for oil meaning (Figure 1B), that is, the oil content

in the grains increased due to nitrogen applied in soil, this was

probably due to the improvement in plant photosynthetic

activity, by increase of nitrogen. Epstein and Bloom (2006)

report that nitrogen is essential to plant and is present in

several compounds within it, without this element, plant

metabolism would be compromised. This result corroborates

that found by Souza et al. (2014), which observed significant

effect in relation to increase of the N rate with the oil content

on crambe grains.

It is observed that regardless of molybdenum application,

there was increase in yield due to the increase in nitrogen on

soil, with significant adjustments in positive linear

regressions. This demonstrates the nitrogen importance of

crambe cultivation, as this chemical element is responsible

for numerous functions inside the plant, photosynthesis

being one of them (EPSTEIN; BLOOM, 2006).

Wright et al. (1988) working with rape seed, found that N

treatment prolongs the leaf life span, improves flowering and

increases crop assimilation in general, contributing to grain

yield. Pitol et al. (2010), in a field experiment to evaluate the

isolated effect of N, P and K on crambe grain yield, observed

gains with N and K fertilization.

It can also be seen in Table 2 that with application of high

nitrogen rates (80 and 120 kg ha-1) there are significant

differences in grain yield when comparing the application of

molybdenum with its absence. It is noted that with the

addition of this micronutrient the grain yield goes from 1,047

kg ha-1 to 1,275 kg ha-1 in 80 kg ha-1 rate and goes from 1,275

kg ha-1 to 1,757 kg ha-1 in 120 kg ha-1 rate.

This is explained by the fact that nitrate is the main

nitrogen source to most plant species, mainly for grain plants.

Plants only assimilate nitrate if it is first reduced to

ammonium (SOUZA; FERNANDES, 2018), for which

several reduction steps are necessary inside the plant

(DECHEN et al., 2018), with nitrate reductase being the first

enzyme in the reduction path and represents the limiting step

y = 22.965x +

707.6

R² = 0.82*

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

0 40 80 120

Shoot dry matter (kg ha-1)

(A)

y = 0.023x + 28.52

R² = 0.95*

0 40 80 120

Oil content (%)

(B)

Nitrogen topdressing rates (kg ha

)

Adequate use of nitrogen associated with molybdenum in crambe crop

Nativa, Sinop, v. 10, n. 1, p. 01-04, 2022.

in this process (Souza and Fernandes, 2018), one of the main

molybdenum functions being the activation of this enzyme

(EPSTEIN; BLOOM, 2006). Therefore, molybdenum

application, especially in sandy soils in case of present

experiment, which are commonly poor in this nutrient,

increased the efficiency nitrogen use by crambe production

process, step that requires high photosynthetic capacity of

the plant. This result is in agreement with that found by

Ferreira et al. (2003), which reached higher yields with higher

nitrogen rates together with molybdenum leaf application.

5. CONCLUSION

Covering nitrogen rates linearly increased some

vegetative and productive parameters. The use of leaf

molybdenum increased grain yield at higher nitrogen rates.

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