Productivity, bromatological composition and economic benefits of using irrigation in the forage cactus under regulated deficit irrigation in a semiarid environment

George Do Nascimento Araújo Júnior,Magna Soelma Beserra De Moura,Alexandre Maniçoba Da Rosa Ferraz Jardim,Marcondes De Sá Souza,Luciana Sandra Bastos De Souza,Hygor Kristoph Muniz Nunes Alves,Thieres George Freire Da Silva,Cleber Pereira Alves,João Pedro Alves De Souza Santos,Gherman Garcia Leal De Araújo

doi:10.1590/1678-4499.20200390

George Do Nascimento Araújo Júnior, Magna Soelma Beserra De Moura + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-4499.20200390

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Abstract

The use of irrigation can improve the productivity and nutritional quality of the forage cactus in environments with a water deficit, resulting in profit to the producer. The productive performance, bromatological composition and economic benefits of using irrigation were investigated in this study with forage cactus clones regulated deficit irrigation (RDI). The study was conducted in an experimental design of randomised blocks, in a factorial scheme with subdivided plots. The plots consisted of water regimes based on the crop evapotranspiration (ETc) (rainfed, 40, 80 and 120% ETc). The cactus clones [‘Miúda’ (MIU), ‘Orelha de Elefante Mexicana’ (OEM) and ‘IPA Sertânia’ (IPA)] comprised the subplots. The total number of cladodes per plant, the fresh and dry matter yields and the bromatological composition were evaluated. Economic viability was assessed using the net revenue and benefit to cost ratio (BCR). The irrigation depths did not increase the yield of the clones. The OEM clone showed 276 and 343% greater fresh and dry matter production, respectively, when compared to the IPA clone; however, when compared with the MIU clone, it was 63%, both on a fresh and dry matter production. The water regimes had no effect on the nutritional quality of the cactus. Only IPA showed no profit during the first cycle (BCR < 1). It can be concluded that planting one irrigated hectare with the OEM and MIU clones offer economic returns starting from the first production cycle (18 months).

Highlights

The cactus (Nopalea spp. and Opuntia spp.) is a forage resource of great agricultural importance in various regions of the planet, especially in environments with a water deficit (Peixoto et al 2018)
There was no effect from the interaction or from the deficit irrigations on the productive performance of the forage cactus clones (p > 0.05)
For the bromatological composition of the forage cactus clones, the only effect of the clones was on the final dry matter content

Summary

Introduction

The cactus (Nopalea spp. and Opuntia spp.) is a forage resource of great agricultural importance in various regions of the planet, especially in environments with a water deficit (Peixoto et al 2018). Among the more important clones are the ‘Orelha de Elefante Mexicana’ (Opuntia stricta (Haw.) Haw.), ‘Miúda’ (Nopalea cochenillifera (L.) Salm-Dyck) and ‘IPA Sertânia’ (Nopalea cochenillifera (L.) Salm-Dyck), all of which are resistant to the cochineal scale bug (Dactylopius opuntiae Cockerell, 1929, Hemiptera: Dactylopidae), the main pest of the crop. These species are usually grown under rain-fed conditions, as they are well-adapted to water deficit (Alves et al 2017; Barbosa et al 2018). Critical water regimes can cause changes in the growth and development of the cactus, which affects the production and nutritional value of the forage, but depend on the type of clone (Silva et al 2015a; Lima et al 2018)

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