It is difficult for the dry-land small holder of Amazon to produce vegetables for his own consumption or for commercialization, since local soils are of low fertility and mineral fertilizers are expensive. With the objetive of offering new alternatives for these small holders, a field experiment with lettuce was made in"terra firme" (Ultisol). Chicken manure, basic mineral fertilizer (N,P,K) and termite nests (genus Nasutitermes, the most common in the region) were used as fertilizers. The application of 5O or 100g of termite nest per plant with or without manure (530g/plant) improved the commercial quality of lettuce, and increased the weight of the plants and the number of saleable leaves. The addition of chicken manure plus mineral NPK did not improve the growth of plants, but application of chicken manure alone or associated with termite nests improved the plants growth. It was concluded, therefore, that the use of chicken manure,termite nests, or a mixture of both are alternatives to yield lettuce in this soil.
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