Agricultural suitability of the southwest region of the state of Piauí, Brazil, through the climatological water balance - DOI: 10.7127/rbai.v1601331

Resumo

The objective of this research was to verify the agricultural aptitude from the climatological water balance for the Southwest region of the State of Piauí, Brazil, which covers the municipalities of Bom Jesus, Caracol, Cristino Castro, and Floriano (cities with more than 40 years of historical data collected using conventional meteorological stations) and Alvorada, São Raimundo Nonato, and Uruçuí (cities with more than 10 years of historical data collected using automatic stations). The water balance was determined using historical monthly rainfall and air temperature data. The results verified that the cities of Bom Jesus, Floriano, and São Raimundo Nonato had soil water deficits in all months of the year, reaching 1146, 1205, and 1445 mm year-1, respectively. Caracol, Cristino Castro, and Alvorada had water deficiencies in all but one month of the year, reaching 641, 1114, and 1271 mm year-1, respectively. The deficiency occurred in ten months (1025 mm year-1) in Uruçuí. Planting planning is necessary so that the phases of maximum water demand of crops do not coincide with the months of maximum water deficiency in the soil to guarantee high yield and quality in agricultural production.