Urochloa brizantha Interference in the Phaseolus vulgaris Radicular System Fertilized with Phosphorus

ABSTRACT: Interference between root systems occurs below the ground surface long before the competition between plants is expressed in the shoot. Nutrients stand out for being limited in the soil, requiring supplementation, especially phosphorus. Thus, this study aimed at estimating, from sowing, visual characteristics in the root systems of bean plants from the Carioca variety (Phaseolus vulgaris) when in competition with brachiaria (Urochloa brizantha), considering also the application of phosphorus P2O5. A factorial design with six treatments was used resulting from the combination of three cultivation schemes (beans in isolated crops or in competition with one or two brachiaria plants), and the application or not of phosphate fertilizer (90 kg ha-1 of P2O5), in a completely randomized design with four replications. After the sowing of the species, the visualization results were taken at every 12 hours, by means of the photographic record of the development of the root system in rhizotrons. Greater growth and greater total area of the root system were observed in bean monocultures and when competing with one brachiaria plant in the presence of phosphate fertilization. In contrast, the bean plant in the container with two brachiaria plants invested its resources in greater length and total area of the root system when in the absence of the fertilizer. It can be stated that there is evidence of interference starting three days after the sowing of the species.