Crescimento de plantas jovens de pequizeiro irrigadas na região do cerrado

Abstract

Among all the native species identified as economically viable for the brazilian Savana, the souari nut has one of the greatest potentials. However, the cultivation of this plant in large-scale monoculture system in the brazilian Savanna still seems risky and unsustainable due to lack of crop information techniques. Thus, studies that improve information techniques of this crop, are important given the wide variety of uses of the plants. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the growth of souari nut plants, grown under irrigation and without irrigation, in two first years old of cultivation in brazillian Savanna region. The orchard was established with 120 seedlings plants , spaced 5 x 5 m, transplanted in field in January 2009, and the study was conducted until November 2010. The experimental design was a randomized block design with two treatments (T1: irrigated and T2: non-irrigated) and six replications. We used the micro sprinkler irrigation system, the quantity of water applied in each irrigation, estimated based on crop evapotranspiration obtained by Penman Monteith. Plant growth was evaluated monthly based on the following biometric variables: plant height, length of the main branch, stem diameter and number of branches. Souari nut plants showed high adaptation to environmental conditions of the brazilian Savanna, where plant growth is not influenced by the use of irrigation, compared to cultivation without irrigation.