In order to assess the effect of irrigation and harvest time on productivity and other agronomical characteristics of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) known as Coqueiro, one experiment was developed under conditions of dry land and irrigation. A randomized block design was applied, with four replicates and treatments composed by different harvest seasons (8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 months after planting). Plants submitted to irrigation had a 39% increase in leaf area and 14% in height, in comparison to those on dry land. Irrigation did not affect root productivity, but increase linearly according to harvest time. 18 months after being sowed, a root productivity of 40,590.60 kg ha-1 was obtained, an increment of 100% in comparison to harvest realized in an 8-month period. The starch content of roots, cultivated without irrigation, had a tendency to decrease in relation to harvest time. With irrigation, this tendency was reverted, with an increase of values.
Manihot esculenta; productivity of roots; starch; leaf area index
