Deficit irrigation and sowing density in the cultivation of baby beet - DOI: 10.7127/rbai.v1801366

Resumo

This research aimed to evaluate the effect of deficit irrigation rates and sowing density on the vegetative and yield performance of baby beet. The experiment wasconducted in a greenhouse at theUEG - Santa Helena de Goiás Unit. The experimental design adopted was randomized block design (DBD) arranged in a 4x2 factorial scheme, with four irrigation depths (40, 60, 80, and 100% of ETo) and two sowing densities (0.5 and 1.0 g of seeds cm-2), with three replications, making up 24 experimental units. The variables analyzed were plant height (PH), stem diameter (SD), number of plants (NP) per cm², shoot fresh mass (FM) in an area of 25cm2, dry mass of the shoot (DM), water content (WC), total titratable acidity (TTA), and water use efficiency (WUE). The data was submitted for analysis of variance. When a significant effect was found, the Tukey test was applied to compare the sowing densities and the regression analysis to adjust the data from the irrigation depths. The sowing density influenced the variables PH,FM, DM, NP, WC, and WUE, with the best performance at a density of 1.0 g cm-2. The WUE was lower as the amount of water applied increased. For the effect of the irrigation depth, it can be seen that for higher depths, the trend was towards a reduction in acidity; i.e., water availability positively affected the taste of the baby beet leaf.