Abstract
Butia capitata (Mart.) Becc., commonly known as jelly palm, is a palm tree native to the Cerrado biome. It is considered an endangered species owing to intensive extractive exploitation of its fruits, with slow and uneven seminiferous propagation as an aggravating factor. Thereby, there are some bottlenecks related to jelly palm seedling production that needs to be optimized. Light quality and intensity is very important to seedling production, as it controls the metabolism of plants and consequently their growth and development. Thus, the aim of this work is to evaluate the effect of shade nets on the growth and physiological aspects of jelly palm seedlings. The experimental design was completely randomized, with five treatments, ten replicates and eight plants per replicate, totaling 400 plants. Experimental treatments consisted of the use of shade nets with 50% shading and different radiation intensity: white (985 µmol m-2 s-1), red (327 µmol m-2 s-1), black (433 µmol m-2 s-1), and silver (405 µmol m-2 s-1). Full sun (1000 µmol m-2 s-1) was used as the control treatment. Growth and physiological analyses of the plants were performed after six months of treatment. We concluded that the red shade net increases growth and biomass of Butia capitata plants. However, the use of shade nets had no effect on the tested physiological characteristics of this species. The red shade net is the most suitable for the production of Butia capitata seedlings in the southern region conditions of Minas Gerais State.
Highlights
The genus Butia Becc. (Arecaceae) originated in South America, and the plants belonging to this genus are widely distributed in the south and southeast regions of Brazil (Lorenzi, Noblick, Kahn, & Ferreira, 2010)
Palm (Butia capitata) fruits from the 2014/2015 harvest were picked, pulped by hand, and kept in the shade to dry for 4 d in the town of Mirabela, located in the northern region of the Minas Gerais State
The control and white net groups exhibited the lowest leaf length and plant height values. This suggests that Jelly palm plants are sensitive to light quality and that the 50% shading from the nets was beneficial
Summary
The genus Butia Becc. (Arecaceae) originated in South America, and the plants belonging to this genus are widely distributed in the south and southeast regions of Brazil (Lorenzi, Noblick, Kahn, & Ferreira, 2010). (Arecaceae) originated in South America, and the plants belonging to this genus are widely distributed in the south and southeast regions of Brazil (Lorenzi, Noblick, Kahn, & Ferreira, 2010). This species has significant ecological importance, especially in terms of providing food resources for native fauna (Sarmento & Villela, 2010). Becc.) is a palm tree native to the Cerrado and has great economic potential because its fruits are widely used by regional populations in juice, ice cream, and popsicle production (Martins, 2003; Moura, 2008). Because of its wide use and the extractive production of this species, the commercial plantation of Jelly palm becomes important to extend the territorial limits. Commercial production is challenging, because the propagation of this palm tree is exclusively seminiferous (Lorenzi, 2004) and because seed germination is low, slow, and uneven, requiring up to one year to complete the germination process (Aquino et al, 2007)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
