Abstract
The cotton plant is a species cultivated in many parts of the world, with enormous economic importance. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of salinity levels in earthworm humus quantities function on the growth and production of cotton. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse at the Campus IV in the State University of Paraiba, municipality of Catole do Rocha-PB, Brazil. A completely randomized design with four replications, in a factorial 4 x 4 was used. The first factor consisted of salinity levels in irrigation water (0.8, 3, 4.5 and 6 dS m-1) and the second factor of earthworm humus amounted to: 0, 1, 2 and 3 kg/plant. At the end of the experiment, the growth characteristics: plant height, stem diameter, leaf number, unit leaf area and leaf area of the plant were evaluated. The production: number of flower buds, number of bolls per plant, seed weight per boll, number of seeds per boll, 100 seed weight, total production, fiber production and seed production were also estimated. The interaction between salinity levels and quantities of earthworm humus did not affect the growth and production of cotton. The increase in salinity levels adversely affected the cotton crop. Largest earthworm humus quantities gave an increase in cotton production. Key words: Gossipium hirsutum r. latifolium H., Electrical conductivity of water, humus earthworm.
Highlights
IntroductionLatifolium H.) stands out as one of the most important Brazilian agribusiness activities, and the herbaceous cotton is cultivated in more than fifteen countries (Oliveira et al., 2012)
The first factor consisted of salinity levels in irrigation water (0.8, 3, 4.5 and 6 dS m-1) and the second factor of earthworm humus amounted to: 0, 1, 2 and 3 kg/plant
The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse at the Center for Humanities and Agrarian State University of Paraíba (UEPB) in municipality of Catolé do Rocha-PB, Brazil (6° 20'38 "S, 37° 44'48" W) 275 m altitude
Summary
Latifolium H.) stands out as one of the most important Brazilian agribusiness activities, and the herbaceous cotton is cultivated in more than fifteen countries (Oliveira et al., 2012). A tolerant crop, the cotton can suffer substantial reductions in their growth, yield and quality when exposed to salt stress condition (Oliveira et al, 2008). The work carried out with cotton in saline soil by Oliveira et al (2012a) observed a reduction in which all characteristics with increasing irrigation water salinity had great reductions in leaf area (average 65.8%) and dry weight of vegetative parts (64%). Santos et al (2016) found that salinity irrigation water affects the growth and production of cotton Salinity is one of the abiotic stresses which affects the growth and productivity of plants (Nascimento et al, 2011; Blanco, 2008), affecting the osmotic potential of the soil solution, causing water stress and toxic effects on plants, which result in metabolism and nutritional disorders (Garcia et al, 2007; Sousa et al, 2010).
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