Productive characteristics of banana genotypes submitted to different irrigation water depths under Cerrado conditions

Abstract

Irrigation management associated with other banana agricultural practices can provide an increased productivity and improved fruit quality. This study assessed the productive characteristics of banana genotypes under different irrigation water depths. The experiment was conducted at the experimental area of the School of Agronomy (EA/UFG) in Goiânia, GO, Brazil. The experimental design was a split-plot randomized block design, in which four irrigation water depths (30, 65, 100, and 135% of crop potential evapotranspiration, ETpc) composed the plots and three genotypes (‘FHIA 18’, ‘Grande- Naine’, and ‘Prata’) the subplots, with a spacing of 2.5 × 1.6 m. During the experimental period (first production cycle), the total precipitation was 1719.20 mm. Characterization of genotype development and yield was performed with the following assessments: bunch mass (kg), number of hands, stalk mass (kg), fruit diameter of the second hand (mm), fruit length of the second hand (cm), mass of the second hand (kg), number of fruits of the second hand, total number of fruits, and number of damaged fruits. The cultivar ‘FHIA 18’, differently from the others, showed a significant response to irrigation water depths on productivity. In the genotypes ‘Grande-Naine’ and ‘Prata’, an influence of irrigation was observed only on external and visual characteristics of fruit (diameter, length, and number of damaged fruits). In the genotype ‘Prata’, the irrigation water depth of 965 mm allowed fruit production with a larger diameter. Fruit length in the genotype ‘Prata’ increased linearly as water depth increased. The use of irrigation promoted a reduction in the number of damaged fruits in the genotypes ‘FHIA 18’ and ‘Grande-Naine’.