Technical and economical response of cunhã crop to water and phosphate fertilizer

Abstract

The production of a crop is subject to various factors related to soil, plant and climate. There is a functional relationship between these factors and crop production, characteristic of each environmental condition. This work evaluated the economic and productive development of the culture of cunha (Clitoria ternatea L.) irrigated by sprinkler under different water depths and levels of phosphate fertilizer. The experiment was conducted at the Experimental Farm Vale do Curu, Pentecoste, Ceará, in the period September 2007 to March 2008. The experimental design was randomized blocks with plots consisting of four primary treatments in the plots, four secondary treatments in the subplots and four blocks. The treatments consisted on a combination of four irrigation sheet (W₁ = 615.2 mm, W₂ = 605.1 mm, W₃ = 540.6 mm and W₄ = 365.6 mm) and four levels of fertilization (P₀=0, P₁=150, P₂=300, P₃= 450 kg ha^-1 of P₂O₅). The culture was established in the field with spacing of 0.40 x 0.40 m, irrigated by a sprinkler system "Line Source Sprinkler System", with a frequency of five days. As results, the factor of production phosphorus was not limiting of the cunhã green mass production, however, the factor of production water influenced to 1.3% significance level, independent of phosphorus levels applied; it was obtained an average of cunhã green mass production of 4,5 kg for each cubic meter of water applied.