Saulo Augusto Quassi de Castro

Saulo Augusto Quassi de Castro

Postdoc

Agricultural Engineer (2014), Master (2017), Specialist (2020), and Doctor (2022) in Soils and Plant Nutrition by Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ/USP).

During my career, I received a scholarship from São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and participated in regular research grants financially supported by FAPESP, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), and Agrisus Foundation. I carried out two scientific research projects during my bachelor, the first at the Plant Nutrition Laboratory of the Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture (CENA/USP) (scholarship supported by PIBIT/CNPq, from 2011 to 2012) and the second at the Department of Soil Science at ESALQ/USP (scholarship supported by FAPESP, from 2012 to 2014), and did an internship at the National Laboratory of Bioethanol Science and Technology (CTBE/CNPEM) (2014).

I guide students in the specialization courses in "Soils and plant nutrition" and "Plant physiology, nutrition, and plant development" since 2017 promoted by SolloAgro (University of São Paulo).

The work lines mainly involve nitrogen (N) fertilization of plants (e.g., sugarcane and wheat) with a focus on the absorption, assimilation, and redistribution of N by the plant using an isotopic technique (15-Nitrogen), the N-fertilizer application method (i.e., via foliar and via soil), and the N dynamic in the soil-plant-environment system; also works on projects that evaluate soil management systems and crop rotation, as well as the use of biostimulants to attenuate abiotic stresses in sugarcane.

Primary fields of research

Nutrient use efficiency by higher plants (soil-plant-environment interaction), plant mineral nutrition (mineral elements functions in plant metabolism), foliar fertilization, soil fertility (i.e., chemistry) and management (i.e., tillage and crop rotation), and plant biomass production and quality. Works have been carried out focusing on nitrogen in sugarcane and wheat.

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