Resumo

PEREZ-GUTIERREZ, Alfonzo et al. Potential Evapotranspiration Levels in Production of Habanero Pepper. Terra Latinoam [online]. 2008, vol.26, n.1, pp.53-59. ISSN 2395-8030.

In order to improve water use efficiency in habanero chili pepper (Capsicum chinense Jacq.) production in Yucatan, Mexico, an experiment was conducted to observe the effect of five fractions of the reference evapotranspiration (ET_o) measured from the daily records of a class A pan evaporation. The treatments were irrigation with 60, 80, 100, and 120% ET_o, and an additional treatment in which a gradual increment was applied according to crop phenology (40, 60, 80, and 100% of the ET_o). Irrigation was applied through a drip system with a 18 000-gauge tape, with drippers every 40 cm and a flow rate per emitter of 2 L h^-1. The treatments were arranged in a random complete block design with four replications; each experimental unit consisted of 30 m² with 78 plants. Plant height, yield of eight harvests and water use efficiency were evaluated. Furthermore, a tensiometer was used to measure soil water tension every 72 h at a depth of 30 cm. Plant transpiration and stomatic conductance were measured with a porometer between 8:00 and 18:00 h at 34 and 79 days after transplant. Final plant height was higher when it was irrigated with 80% of the ET_o. The same treatment obtained the highest yield with 23.47 Mg ha^-1 of fruit, resulting in the best water use efficiency of 9.28 kg m^-3. The highest yield was directly related with the high values of transpiration and stomatic conductance rates. These two factors were higher with an average soil water tension of 10.8 kPa, which was generated by 80% of the ET_o.

Palavras-chave : Capsicum chinense Jacq.; irrigation; soil moisture; transpiration; yield; water use.

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