HIGHLIGHTS
The salinity of the water reduces the number and diameter of the fruits and, the total weight of West Indian cherry fruits.
Potassium-phosphorus fertilization attenuates the deleterious effects of salt stress on West Indian cherry production.
The effect of water salinity on West Indian cherry fruit varies with salt stress intensity and expo-sure time to salinity.
Key words:
Malpighia emarginata Sesse & Moc. ex DC.; salt stress; mineral nutrition
ABSTRACT
Water resources in the Brazilian Northeast region commonly have high concentrations of salts, which limits crop production. Thus, the combined supply of nutrients such as K and P can reduce the absorption of Na+ and Cl- ions in plants, enabling the use of saline waters. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the production of West Indian cherry cv. BRS 366 Jaburu under irrigation with saline water and potassium-phosphorus fertilization in two production cycles in the second year of cultivation. The treatments were distributed in randomized blocks, in a 5 x 4 factorial scheme with three replicates, corresponding to five values of electrical conductivity of irrigation water (0.6; 1.4; 2.2, 3.0 and 3.8 dS m-1) and four potassium/phosphorus combinations (100/100, 85/85, 60/60 and 45/45% of the recommendation for the crop). In the first production cycle, plants irrigated with waters of 1.4 and 1.9 dS m-1 obtained the highest average and total weights of fruits, respectively, while in the second cycle irrigation with waters from 0.6 dS m-1 reduced production. Fertilization with 45/45% of the K2O/P2O5 recommendation results in a higher number and weight of West Indian cherry fruits in the first production cycle, regardless of the salinity level.
Key words:
Malpighia emarginata Sesse & Moc. ex DC.; salt stress; mineral nutrition
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** - Significant at p ≤ 0.01 by F test; Vertical bars represent the standard error of the mean (n = 3)
Means followed by different letters indicate significant difference between treatments by Tukey test (p ≤ 0.05); Vertical bars represent the standard error of the mean (n = 3)
Means followed by different letters indicate significant difference between treatments by Tukey test (p ≤ 0.05); ** - Significant at p ≤ 0.01; Vertical bars represent the standard error of the mean (n = 3)
** and * - Significant at p ≤ 0.01 and p ≤ 0.05; Vertical bars represent the standard error of the mean (n = 3)
Means followed by different letters indicate significant difference between treatments by Tukey test (p < 0.05); ** - Significant at p ≤ 0.01; Vertical bars represent the standard error of the mean (n = 3)
Means followed by different letters indicate significant difference between treatments by Tukey test (p < 0.05); ** - Significant at p ≤ 0.01; Vertical bars represent the standard error of the mean (n = 3)