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Silicon has been used in several ways to improve plant growth and development, however, there are few experimental results, especially for tropical grasses. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of applying calcium and magnesium silicate on the growth, structure, and herbage mass of Mombasa grass. A completely randomized design was used in a 3 x 3 factorial arrangement with 4 replications and 2 duplicates for replications. The experimental treatments corresponded to two doses of silicon (1,000 and 2,000 kg/ha) and control (0 kg/ha) over 3 growth cycles. The variables evaluated were plant height, number of tillers, specific leaf area, herbage mass, leaf mass, stem mass, the mass of dead material, and root mass. The application of silicate was not able to modify the variables studied. Considering the soil studied, the application of silicate is not recommended to increase the productivity of Mombasa grass, but similar longer-term studies are needed on soils with low Ca and Mg levels.

Improper soil use leads to inefficient exploitation of natural resources, destruction of land resources, poverty and other social problems. Therefore, the objective of this study was execute a survey and soil classification of an area under pasture in a farm in southern Tocantins. The area was divided according to the existing soil spots to perform the soil classification following the methodology of the Brazilian System of Soil Classification and its agricultural potential. At the studied area were found four soil classes, which were studied and classified as Plintossolo Argilúvico Distrófico petroplíntico, Cambissolo Háplico Tb Eutrófico, Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo Distrófico típico and Gleissolo Melânico Ta Eutrófico with agricultural potential in the subgroups 1(a)bC, 4P, 1aBC and 3(bc), respectively. The terrain was underutilized, being used for pasture cultivation, at the same time it could be used for cultivation of annual plants.