FRUIT YIELD AND QUALITY OF PAPAYA 'GOLDEN' UNDER DIFFERENT IRRIGATION DEPTHS AND POTASSIUM DOSES IN THE NORTH OF ESPIRITO SANTO STATE, BRAZIL

摘要

This work aimed to study the effects of different irrigation depths and potassium doses on yield and fruit quality of papaya cv Golden. The experiment was carried out in an area of commercial and agricultural production situated in Linhares - ES, Brazil. The design employed was randomized blocks, arranged in subdivided parcels and having three replications. The treatments consisted of five irrigation depths in the parcel and four potassium doses in the subparcel, totalizing 20 treatments. The five programmed irrigation depths were 50; 70; 90; 110 and 130 of the reference evapotranspiration and the four potassium doses were 30; 42; 54 and 66 g of K2O plant(-1)month(-1). The high rainfall rates in the experimental period (February-2005 to June-2006), greatly overcame the plant water requirements, interfering in the treatments, not allowing significant variation in the variables analyzed, particularly in function of the applied depths. During the 11 months and 21 days of harvest, the average yield was 79.41 t ha(-1), with an average of 96 fruits per plant which, in the first stage of ripening, presented a mass of 404 g, average total soluble solids content (SST) of 10.11 degrees Brix and pulp and fruit firmness of 79.80 N and 126.19 N, respectively.