STRATEGIES FOR TARO {Colocasia esculenta) IRRIGATION

摘要

This study aimed to evaluate the taro (Colocasia esculenta), var. Sao Bento, in response to different irrigation strategies. The experiment was carried out at Ifes campus Santa Teresa, Brazil, at an altitude of 130 meters above sea level, using a randomized block design (RBD) with five treatments for the water availability factor of culture (f factor) equivalent to 0.1; 0.2; 0.3; 0.4 and 0.5, and four replications. Meteorological data were used to estimate the crop water demand, performing daily water balance using spreadsheets. We evaluated the applied water depth, the yield of commercial cormels and the water use efficiency by taro, due to the f factor. The results were submitted to analysis of variance and regressions. Increasing the f factor provided a reduction of applied irrigation depths. Lighter and frequent irrigations improved the development and yield of taro and can be recommended for its management.