Yield of two cultivars of banana submitted to different salinity levels of irrigation water

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of different levels of irrigation water salinity on the productivity of two banana cultivars, ‘Marmelo' and 'Pacovan'. The experiment was conducted at the Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-árido-UFERSA, in Mossoró-RN, Brazil, during the period of July, 1999 to January, 2001. The experimental design was a randomized block in a split-plot scheme with four replications. The treatments consisted of four levels of salinity of irrigation water (S1 = 0.6; S2 = 1.7; S3 = 2.8 and S4 = 4.0 dS m-1) and the subtreatments were two cultivars of banana (Pacovan - AAB and Marmelo - ABB). Yield reduction equivalent to 10.1% per unit increase of electrical conductivity of irrigation water in relation to the lowest salinity level (0.6 dS m-1), independent of cultivar, was verified. Reduction of yield was related more to mean weight of fruit than to the number of fruit per bunch.