Abstract
ABSTRACT Irregular rainfall in the semiarid region of Brazil and in the world exerts a limiting action on agricultural production, in general, including fruit species. Under these conditions, irrigation is the input that keeps the production system both economically and socially viable. This study was carried out from 2012 to 2014, in the municipality of Remígio, Paraíba State, Brazil, aiming at evaluating the production of ‘Morada’ soursop cultivated under rainfed and irrigated conditions, in soil with and without mulch, in two harvests. The treatments were distributed in randomized block design with three replicates in a 2 × 3 × 2 factorial scheme, corresponding to non-irrigated plants (0 mm water depth) and plants irrigated weekly (17.2 mm water depth) in soil without mulching, with cover crop residues, and with a sisal bagasse mulch in the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 crop years. In the soil without mulching, irrigation increased yield from 5.3 to 34.7 t ha-1 in the first harvest and from 9.4 to 57.7 t ha-1 in the second harvest. The association between irrigation and mulch with sisal residue promoted the highest yield. The use of mulch of sisal residue increased the number and mean mass of fruits, production per plant and yield of ‘Morada’ soursop compared to the soil without mulch and covered by crop residues.
Highlights
In the semiarid areas of Brazil, the low and irregular rainfall, allied to the high evaporative demand, makes soursop (Annona muricata L.) cultivation highly dependent on irrigation (Silva et al, 2013)
The materials used as soil cover are associated with the availability of crop residues, such as grasses, invasive plants, fine branches, and leaves of the crop being exploited, resulting from cultural practices (Sousa et al, 2017)
The treatments were distributed in a 2 × 3 × 2 factorial scheme, corresponding to the soil without mulching, covering of the experimental area with crop residues, and covering with crushed sisal residue two years ago, with both covers distributed in a crown projection area of 7.0 m2 referring to the crown diameter of 3.0 m during the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 crop years, in plants without irrigation and irrigated weekly with a 17.2 mm water depth, obtained based on the reference crop evapotranspiration (ET0), by the product of evaporation of class A pan by the factor 0.75
Summary
In the semiarid areas of Brazil, the low and irregular rainfall, allied to the high evaporative demand, makes soursop (Annona muricata L.) cultivation highly dependent on irrigation (Silva et al, 2013). Sisal (Agave sisalana) fibers can be used as mulch, along with crop residues available in producing or surrounding areas (Cavalcante et al, 2016). These materials exert beneficial effects of a physical nature through the aggregation and infiltration of water in the soil (Prosdocimi et al, 2016), as well as chemical effects on fertility improvement (Barbosa et al, 2013), and biological effects on the population increase and maintenance of biological diversity in the soil (Kader et al, 2017). The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of supplementary irrigation and mulch on ‘Morada’ soursop yield, in the semiarid region of Paraíba state, Brazil
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