Use of hydrogel in the irrigation management of white pitaya (Hylocereus undatus) seedlings: Biometrics and accumulation of organic and inorganic solutes

The initial development of pitayas may be limited by a few factors, among them, water deficit. Agricultural hydrogels can be used as an alternative to enhance the retention and availability of water and nutrients in the soil. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the influence of irrigation frequency and hydrogel doses on the development of white pitaya (Hylocereus undatus) seedlings to establish a time interval in days between irrigations that provides better seedling development and determine the hydrogel dose that provides a reduction of water consumption without damaging seedling development. The experimental design consisted of randomized blocks in a 4 x 4 factorial arrangement, in which the treatments corresponded to 4 hydrogel doses (0, 2, 4, and 6 g/plant of Biogel Hidro Plus) incorporated into the substrate and four irrigation frequencies (1, 3, 5, and 7 days of interval). The biometric characteristics, photosynthetic pigments, and organic and inorganic solutes of the plants were evaluated after 120 days. The use of daily irrigation negatively influenced the growth and biomass accumulation of the aerial part of the seedlings and, consequently, provided the lowest values of cladodes of the pitaya seedlings. Pitaya seedlings had greater development when using an irrigation frequency of around 3 days. The application of 6 g/plant of hydrogel provided the highest averages for accumulation of dry biomass, photosynthetic pigments, and organic and inorganic solutes at irrigation levels of 3.6, 4, and about 3.8 days of intervals, respectively. Hydrogel incorporation allowed increasing the interval between irrigations by 1 day without damages to the seedling development.

Saline water irrigation strategies and potassium fertilization on physiology and fruit production of yellow passion fruit

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of saline water irrigation management strategies and potassium doses on the concentration of photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange, and fruit production of ‘BRS GA1’ yellow passion fruit. The experiment was carried out under field conditions using a randomized block design, with treatments based on a 6 × 2 factorial scheme, related to six management strategies for irrigation with saline water (irrigation with low-salinity water throughout the crop cycle-WS; irrigation with high-salinity water in the vegetative stage-VE; flowering stage-FL; fruiting stage-FR; and successively in vegetative/flowering stages-VE/FL and vegetative/fruiting stages-VE/FR) and two doses of potassium (60 and 100% of the recommendation), with four replicates. The dose of 100% recommendation corresponded to 345 g of K2O plant-1 year-1. High electrical conductivity irrigation water (4.0 dS m-1) was used in different phenological stages according to treatment, alternating with water of low electrical conductivity (1.3 dS m-1). The synthesis of chlorophyll a and b, stomatal conductance, instantaneous carboxylation efficiency and water use efficiency of ‘BRS GA1’ yellow passion fruit were reduced under irrigation with water of 4.0 dS m-1 in all strategies adopted. Fertilization with 60% of the K recommendation promoted greater number of fruits and yellow passion fruit yield. Irrigation with 4.0 dS m-1 water in the vegetative/flowering and flowering stages reduced the yield of yellow passion fruit.

Irrigation quality and management determine salinization in Israeli olive orchards

Olive (Olea europaea L.) orchard brackish water irrigation with incorrect irrigation management reduces soil fertility and degrades soil health through soil salinization. This study was conducted in the Beit She'an Valley, one of the main agricultural regions in Israel, in an olive orchard in which a combination of soil salinization and poor drainage conditions impedes plant development and causes severe economic damage. By combining various research methods, including soil salinity monitoring, field experiments, remote sensing (frequency domain electromagnetic – FDEM), and unsaturated soil profile saline water movement modeling, the salinization processes were quantified. Irrigation water conductance of 3.13 dS m−1 points to salinization within the tree upper root zone, whereas the modeling results suggest that salinization danger is greater with brackish treated wastewater rather than with lower-salinity brackish irrigation groundwater and that irrigation with potable water can help reduce salt accumulation and recover damaged plots.

Correction: Rugira et al. Application of DSSAT CERES-Maize to Identify the Optimum Irrigation Management and Sowing Dates on Improving Maize Yield in Northern China. Agronomy 2021, 11, 674

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ESTUDO COMPARATIVO ENTRE METODOLOGIAS DE ESTIMATIVA DA EVAPOTRANSPIRAÇÃO DE REFERÊNCIA PARA LOCALIDADES DO NORTE DE MINAS GERAIS

ESTUDO COMPARATIVO ENTRE METODOLOGIAS DE ESTIMATIVA DA EVAPOTRANSPIRAÇÃO DE REFERÊNCIA PARA LOCALIDADES DO NORTE DE MINAS GERAIS LUCAS DA COSTA SANTOS1; LUCAS SANTOS DO PATROCÍNIO FIGUEIRÓ1; ALEX XAVIER RIBEIRO DE ANDRADE1; ANTÔNIO COSTA FERREIRA NETO1 E CAROLINE SALEZZI BONFÁ1 1 Departamento de Agronomia, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri – UFVJM, Campus JK, Rodovia MGT 367-KM 583, nº 5000, Alto da Jacuba. CEP: 39.100-000, Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brasil. E-mail: [email protected];[email protected];[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]. 1 RESUMO A determinação da evapotranspiração é imprescindível para a prática racional da irrigação, o que tem conduzido à formulação de diversas equações para estimativa desta importante variável meteorológica. Nesse sentido, faz-se necessário estudos comparativos com estas equações de modo a avaliar, localmente, sua aplicabilidade. Em linha com o exposto, objetivou-se comparar, para as condições climáticas de Salinas e Januária (ambos situados no Norte de Minas Gerais, Brasil), métodos empíricos de estimativa da evapotranspiração com o método padrão de Penman-Monteith (FAO56). Para tanto, utilizou-se dados meteorológicos de cinco anos (2016 a 2020) obtidos do Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia (INMET). Para a análise comparativa foram utilizados os seguintes indicadores estatísticos: coeficientes de determinação (R²) e correlação (r), erro absoluto médio (EAM), raiz do erro quadrado médio (REQM), índice de concordância (d) e índice de desempenho (c). Os resultados obtidos demonstram que, para as duas localidades avaliadas, o método de Blaney-Criddle apresenta o melhor desempenho para a estimativa da evapotranspiração, por outro lado, as equações de Hargreaves-Samani e Priestley-Taylor exibiram performance insatisfatória. Palavras-chave: métodos empíricos, demanda hídrica de cultivos, manejo da irrigação. SANTOS, L. C.; FIGUEIRÓ, L. S. P.; ANDRADE, A. X. R.; FERREIRA NETO, A. C.; BONFÁ, C. B. COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN REFERENCE EVAPOTRANSPIRATION ESTIMATION METHODOLOGIES FOR NORTHERN MINAS GERAIS LOCATIONS 2 ABSTRACT The determination of evapotranspiration is essential for the rational practice of irrigation, which has led to the formulation of several equations to estimate this important meteorological variable. In line with the above objective was to compare, for the climatic conditions of Salinas and Januária (both located in the North of Minas Gerais, Brazil), empirical methods for estimating evapotranspiration with the standard method of Penman-Monteith (FAO56). For this purpose, meteorological data for five years (2016 to 2020) obtained from the National Institute of Meteorology (INMET) were used. For the comparative analysis, the following statistical indicators were used: coefficients of determination (R²) and correlation (r), mean absolute error (EAM), root mean square error (REQM), agreement index (d) and performance index (c). The results obtained demonstrate that, for the two locations evaluated, the Blaney-Criddle method presents the best performance for estimating evapotranspiration, on the other hand, the Hargreaves-Samani and Priestley-Taylor equations showed unsatisfactory performance. Keywords: crop water demand, empirical methods, irrigation management.