Abstract
ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to assess the sensitivity of the castor bean cultivar “BRS 188 Paraguacu” to available soil water for plants and soil organic matter content based on their effects on fruit yield and seed oil content. A 2 × 4 factorial experiment was conducted from October 2008 to March 2009 under field conditions using randomized complete block design; two soil organic matter contents (5.0 and 25.0 g·kg−1) and four available soil water levels for plants at the irrigation time (70, 80, 90, and 100% of the total available soil water) with three replicates were tested. On each experimental unit measuring 100 m2, 50 plants were cultivated with a spacing of 2 m × 1 m (24 useful and 26 border plants). Analysis of variance (F test) was performed; qualitative factors (soil organic matter) were compared by Tukey's test and quantitative factors (available soil water) by regression analysis. Increased soil organic matter and available soil water for plants substantially increased productivity; however, seed oil content, mean 100-seed mass, mean 100-fruit mass, and seed:fruit ratio were affected by available soil water content alone. Therefore, the tested cultivar is sensitive to reduced available soil water content, which severely decreases its productivity.
Highlights
Castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) is an oilseed crop of outstanding social and economic importance in Brazil and the world
Castor bean is an euphorbiaceous crop traditionally grown by small producers but commercially exploited due to the high oil content of its seeds
The objective of this study was to analyze the sensitivity of the castor bean cultivar “BRS 188 Paraguaçu” to different levels of soil water availability and organic matter content based on their effects on productivity and seed oil content, aimed at meeting the growing demands of Brazilian agribusiness
Summary
Castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) is an oilseed crop of outstanding social and economic importance in Brazil and the world. Castor bean is an euphorbiaceous crop traditionally grown by small producers but commercially exploited due to the high oil content of its seeds. Brazil is one of the three largest producers of castor beans in the world, alternating throughout the history with China and India (Rodrigues et al, 2010). In Northeast Brazil, agriculture plays an important role in the regional economy. Considering that irrigated agriculture is a great alternative for this region, the available water resources must be used rationally, necessitating the proper use of water, soil, and crop management techniques (Freitas et al, 2010)
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