Use of limestone and agricultural gypsum in cauliflower crop management and clubroot control in mountain farming

ABSTRACT. The effects of the dose and application method of limestone - broadcast or in furrow - and of agricultural gypsum on soil fertility, the control of clubroot, and cauliflower development in mountain farming areas were evaluated. Initially, four doses of broadcast limestone (0.0, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 Mg ha-1) and two cauliflower cultivars (Sharon and Piracicaba Precoce) were analyzed. A second experiment evaluated limestone (4.0 Mg ha-1) application treatments: broadcast and in furrow, broadcast limestone + gypsum (3.0 + 1.0 Mg ha-1), and broadcast gypsum (1.0 Mg ha-1). Soil fertility was improved, and significant increases were observed in the total and healthy root volume with increasing doses of limestone. With 4.0 Mg ha-1, a 58 and 85% increase in yield was observed in Sharon and Piracicaba, respectively, compared to the control. Treatments with limestone and limestone + gypsum, regardless of the application method, elevated pH (≥ 10%), base saturation (V%) (≥ 37%), and calcium (Ca) contents (≥ 100%), and reduced the levels of aluminum ions (Al3+) (≥ 60%) and clubroot severity (≥ 64%) and favored biomass accumulation (≥ 27%) and yield (≥ 9.2%). The application of limestone in the furrow yielded results similar to the broadcast application.