ORGANIC COMPOST ON MANGO TREES (Mangifera indica L.) CULTIVATED IN THE SEMI-ARID OF NORTHEAST REGION OF BRAZIL

The objective of this study was to evaluate the soil chemical characteristics, the nutrient contents in leaves and the production of mango crops grown in the organic system. An experiment was carried out with three composts named A, B and C, using three levels (0, 5 and 10 t ha(-1)) of each compost in a commercial production of mango on organic cultivation. The experiment was carried out in a randomized block design, 3 x 3 factorial (3 composts x 3 levels) and three replications. The organic composts were prepared with animal and vegetable waste, enriched with castor bean, MB4 (R) and thermo phosphate. The enrichment was efficient in increasing the content of nutrients in composts. The organic composts increased the levels of soil organic matter (SOM), especially in the compost C, whose soil analysis showed higher levels of total P, K, Ca, Mg, B, Cu, Mn and Zn. The SOM increased linearly with the enhancement of the compost levels. Production and fruit number per plant were higher with the use of the B and C composts, which showed higher contents of total nutrients. The compost levels provided a linear increase in N leaf content. The production of fruit (kg ha(-1)) and fruit number per plant showed quadratic increase with the compost concentrations, without presenting a maximum point.