Water status and productivity of 'Hass' avocado trees in response to supplemental irrigation during winter

Tatiana Cantuarias-Avilés,Bruna Do Amaral Brogio,Simone Rodrigues Da Silva,Edypol Guilherme Baptista,Lígia Broglio Micheletti,Sérgio Figueiredo Angolini

doi:10.1590/s1678-3921.pab2019.v54.00237

Tatiana Cantuarias-Avilés, Bruna Do Amaral Brogio + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s1678-3921.pab2019.v54.00237

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Abstract

Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of supplemental irrigation, during winter dry season, on the water status and productivity of 'Hass' avocado (Persea Americana) trees. The experiment was carried out on a clayey Oxisol from 2014 to 2016, when extreme climatic events were recorded in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The rainfed regime was compared with two irrigation regimes, applied during the whole and half of the irrigation run time defined by the grower, corresponding to 5,091 and 2,545 m3 ha-1 water, respectively. The following variables were evaluated: soil water tension; leaf water potential, color, and chlorophyll content; leaf and fruit abscission rates; tree size; and fruit size and yield. Supplemental irrigation applied during half of the run time increased fruit yield by 18.2%. However, irrigation applied during a fixed-time period and the occurrence of unusual rainfall spells caused soil water logging, negatively affecting tree growth and water status.

Highlights

Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) production in the Southeastern region of Brazil – which includes the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and Espírito Santo – occurs mainly under rainfed conditions, with no supplemental irrigation during the winter dry period
The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of supplemental irrigation, during winter dry season, on the water status and productivity of 'Hass' avocado (Persea Americana) trees
Irrigation applied during a fixed-time period and the occurrence of unusual rainfall spells caused soil water logging, negatively affecting tree growth and water status

Summary

Introduction

Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) production in the Southeastern region of Brazil – which includes the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and Espírito Santo – occurs mainly under rainfed conditions, with no supplemental irrigation during the winter dry period. This practice, is common in some regions of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Colombia, and Venezuela, which are characterized by very different edaphoclimatic conditions (Carr, 2013). Restricted water supply during flowering and fruit set may lead to smaller fruit size (Lahav et al, 2013) and deteriorated internal fruit quality, as it increases the incidence of pulp browning (Bower et al, 1989)

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