ABSTRACT
There are many assumptions about the low water requirement of forage cactus, but such information depends on performance analysis studies of the crop under different water conditions. Thus, this study aimed to verify the effect of different irrigation depths on morphophysiology and productive performance of forage cactus grown in semiarid environment. The experiment was conducted during the second productive year of the crop in Serra Talhada, PE. Water depths were applied and recorded at the end of the cycle as 976, 1048, 1096, 1152 and 1421 mm. At harvest, biometric and plant biomass measurements were made, and water response indices, morphological, morphophysiological and yield analysis were obtained. It was found that the irrigation depth did not affect the water response indices (except for 1st cladode fresh weight), morphological and morphophysiological (p > 0.05), as well as the productive performance. However, the mean values obtained for the yield, such as green and dry biomass (131.16 and 8.18 t ha-1), and growth variables, such as average total cladodes number (14.13), showed to be superior to reported under rainfed conditions. Water availability conditions of 1048 to 1096 mm yr-1for the forage cactus are suggested.
Key words:
growth analysis;
Opuntia stricta
; Semiarid
