Abstract
Due to the reduced availability of good-quality water in the semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil, the utilization of saline waters in irrigation became an alternative for the expansion of agriculture in this region. Thus, it is necessary to develop techniques which can make viable the use of these waters in agriculture. Given the above, this study aimed to evaluate the morphophysiology of ‘FAGA 11’ cashew rootstock subjected to different levels of irrigation water salinity and exogenous proline application through the leaves. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse of the Federal University of Campina Grande, at the Center of Sciences and Agri-Food Technology, Campus of Pombal, PB, Brazil, in a randomized block design, in 5 × 4 factorial scheme, with three replicates and two plants per plot. Treatments consisted of different levels of irrigation water electrical conductivity—ECw (0.3; 1.0; 1.7; 2.4 and 3.1 dS m-1) combined with proline concentrations applied through the leaves—PC (0; 4; 8 and 12 mM). Irrigations with water up to ECw of 1.37 dS m-1 may be used as it causes an acceptable 10% reduction in the variables of morphology of cashew FAGA 11 seedlings. The proline concentrations tested, with the exception of the Dickson’s quality index of seedlings, did not attenuate the deleterious effects of irrigation water salinity on the cashew FAGA 11 rootstock seedlings.
Highlights
Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is one of the most important fruit species cultivated in Northeast Brazil, responsible for the generation of jobs because of the industrialized products from its fruit and pseudofruit, especially for the states Ceará, Piauí and Rio Grande do Norte, which have a planted area of 522,478 hectares, representing 92.60% of the cultivated area in the country (IBGE, 2018).Most cashew plantations in Brazil are located in the semi-arid region, where there is negative water balance during the year
This study aimed to evaluate the morphophysiology of ‘FAGA 11’ cashew rootstocks as a function of saline water irrigation and foliar application of proline
Application of treatments or saline waters began at 25 days after sowing (DAS), with interval of one day, and irrigation was manually performed in the late afternoon (5:00 p.m.), using water depths based on the process of drainage lysimetry, determined by the difference between the applied volume and drained volume in the previous irrigation (Bernardo et al, 2006)
Summary
Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is one of the most important fruit species cultivated in Northeast Brazil, responsible for the generation of jobs because of the industrialized products from its fruit and pseudofruit, especially for the states Ceará, Piauí and Rio Grande do Norte, which have a planted area of 522,478 hectares, representing 92.60% of the cultivated area in the country (IBGE, 2018). The waters used for irrigation normally have high concentrations of salts, above 2 dS m-1, which can hamper germination, initial growth, physiology and production of the plants through the toxicity caused by toxic ions (Na+ and Cl-) and nutritional imbalance (Silva et al, 2011, 2017). Proline accumulation can increase plants’ level of tolerance to salt stress (Paulus et al, 2010). This fact makes the proline an attenuating potential of saline stress during the formation of cashew rootstocks promoting the quality of seedlings which is greatly affected by saline stress. This study aimed to evaluate the morphophysiology of ‘FAGA 11’ cashew rootstocks as a function of saline water irrigation and foliar application of proline
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