The siderurgy slag, as acidity correction material with reaction slower than the limestone, can benefit long-term crops such as sugar cane. This work had as objective to evaluate the response of the sugarcane during five cycles of production as function of the application of siderurgy slag. The work was carried out at Ituverava (SP), in a Red Yellow Latosol (V=26%). The experimental design was randomized blocks in factorial scheme 2 x 4, with four replications. The factors consisted of two corrective materials (slag of siderurgy and limestone) at four levels: 0; 1.23, 2.52 and 3.8 t ha-1 equivalent of CaCO3. The cane stalk production was evaluated throughout five cycles of culture (harvests 1998/1999 up to 2002/2003), and soil sampling (0-20 cm) and base saturation evaluation being performed in the first four cycles. The slag of siderurgy and the limestone were similar in the correction of the acidity of the soil, along sugarcane cycles. The largest accumulated cane stalk production was associated to the soil base saturation near 60% and 70% when using limestone and slag of siderurgy, respectively.
Saccharum spp.; cane stalk production; calcium silicate; siderurgy residue; base saturation; soil reaction
