Escama de tilápia como fertilizante aumenta solutos orgânicos e reduz estresse hídrico em girassóis.

Brazil stands out as one of the world's main producers of tilapia, but the significant increase in the production of this species, essential for the global fishing industry, brings considerable challenges and environmental impacts. The significant generation of waste from tilapia farming emerges as a significant environmental concern associated with the expansion of aquaculture. Given this scenario, this study aimed to evaluate the plant growth and production of organic solutes in sunflower plants subjected to drought stress conditions and cultivated with fertilizer from tilapia scales (EDT). The experiment was conducted in a controlled environment, using pots with two plants, organized in a 2x6 factorial arrangement. The factors included two water regimes (daily irrigation and suspension of irrigation 20 days after sowing) and six different substrates:1) 100% (by volume) fine-grained sand; 2) Sand + Fertilizer at 80 kg N ha-1; 3) Sand + EDT at 80 kg N ha-1; 4) Sand + EDT at 120 kg N ha-1; 5) Sand + EDT at 180 kg N ha-1; 6) Sand + EDT at 240 kg N ha-1. The use of tilapia scale (EDT) as an organic biofertilizer caused an increase in organic solute levels, especially under water stress conditions. This circumstance may have contributed, at least partially, to attenuating the deleterious effects of water stress on plant growth. The ideal EDT concentration was identified as 120 kg of nitrogen per hectare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]