Variation of Thermal Time, Phyllochron and Plastochron in Passion Fruit Plants With Irrigation Depth and Hydrogel

Adailza G Cavalcante,Alian C P Cavalcante,Lourival F Cavalcante,Carlos E M Dos Santos,Danila L De Araújo,Antônio G De L Souto

doi:10.5539/jas.v10n5p229

Adailza G Cavalcante, Alian C P Cavalcante + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5539/jas.v10n5p229

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Abstract

The passion fruit demands water for its growth and production. Water management is relevant in regions characterized by low rainfall indices, such as semi-arid regions. In this direction, the use of hydrogel in the soil allows the water that is supplied through irrigation to be better utilized by the plants, reducing leach losses. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the influence of hydrogel in soil cultivated with passion fruit and irrigated to various water depths on the thermal time of the phenological stages, phyllochron and plastochron of the plants. Treatments were distributed in randomized blocks in a 2 × 5 factorial arrangement, referring to the soil without and with hydrogel and raising the irrigation depth from 60% to 70%, 80%, 90% and 100% of crop evapotranspiration in four replications. The thermal requirements of the phenological phases and of the whole plant cycle, phyllochron of the main stem and the productive branches, and plastochron were evaluated. Increasing the irrigation depth from 60% to 100% reduced the total thermal time values from 3,811.8 to 2,401.3 °C day and from 3,707.8 to 2,628.7 °C day in the soil without and with hydrogel, respectively. The thermal time of the phenological phases and the phyllochron of the main stem and productive branches of the passion fruit were stimulated by an increase in irrigation depth.

Highlights

Irrigated fruit cultivation has gained more and more space in Brazilian agriculture in the last decades, especially with respect to advances in the economy and efficiency of the use of water applied through irrigation, and in regions that present water scarcity such as the Brazilian Northeast where the cultivation of fruit trees is often restricted to the application of water to plants by irrigation (Araújo et al, 2012)
From analysis of variance (Table 3), it was verified that the interaction hydrogel × irrigation depth exerts a significant influence on the thermal time of the subperiod corresponding to fertilization of the flower to the point of maturation of the fruit, on the whole crop cycle, and on the speed of leaf issue on the main stem and secondary branches
The accumulated thermal time for the subperiods related to transplantation of the seedlings to pruning of the main branch and to pruning of the secondary branches to flower bud emission was not influenced by application of the treatments, presenting average values of 699.50 and 945.75 °C day TTa, respectively

Summary

Introduction

Irrigated fruit cultivation has gained more and more space in Brazilian agriculture in the last decades, especially with respect to advances in the economy and efficiency of the use of water applied through irrigation, and in regions that present water scarcity such as the Brazilian Northeast where the cultivation of fruit trees is often restricted to the application of water to plants by irrigation (Araújo et al, 2012) In these regions, water deficiency is one of the most limiting factors to obtain economically viable productivity, and the production system depends on this supply of water to the plants for the production of fruits (Silva, Bezerra, Sousa, Pereira Filho, & Freitas, 2011). The adoption of irrigation water management techniques that can attenuate losses due to evaporative effects in the soil, and that contribute to greater utilization by the plants is necessary to obtain greater crop yields in those regions where water is limited, for fruit species (Souza et al, 2010)

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