Avaliação do milho safrinha irrigado por gotejamento

Abstract

Corn (Zea Mays L.) is one of the most economically exploited crops in the world, Brazil being the third largest producer and second largest exporter in the world. Its cultivation as a off-season in the country has become increasingly common in all regions, however, one of the limiting factors for its planting is the occurrence of dry period in summer, harming its productivity. Therefore, the irrigation systems use has become advantageous, since the corn crop to develop properly needs a large amount of water in different plant stages. The objective of this work was to evaluate the development and productivity of off-season corn irrigated by drip system irrigation and non-irrigated. The work has been carried out at Ufscar- Araras, in area of 40 x 35m, with 34 planting lines, being 17 irrigated and 17 non-irrigated. The water application has been made by self-compensating driplines, model Top Drip, flow of 1 Liter per hour, spacing of 0.30m and operating pressure of 1.4 bar. The soil moisture measurement, has been accomplished by tensiometers installed at two depts. Plant height, stem diameter and third leaf length were evaluated, as well as the diameter of the ears of corn, weight, length, 1000 grain weight, number of grains per ear and grain yield. The irrigated plants have been shown a greater vegetative development, quality and grain yield than the non-irrigated plants.