Irrigação do feijão-de-corda com água salina em diferentes estádios de desenvolvimento e seus efeitos na planta e no solo.

Abstract

The sensitivity of crops to salinity often changes from one growth stage to another. Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] is an important crop specie cultivated in different semi-arid regions of the world. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the irrigation with saline water, applied at different growth development stages of cowpea. The experiment was set up in the field, during the dry season. A completely randomized block design, with five treatments (T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5) and five repetitions, was adopted. The distance between lines and plants were 0.8 m and 0.3 m, respectively, with two plants per hole. The treatments studied were: T1 - Groundwater with electrical conductivity (ECw) of 0.8 dS m-1 during the whole crop cycle; T2 - Saline water (ECw = 5.0 dS m-1) during the whole crop cycle, starting after germination; T3 - Saline water (ECw = 5.0 dS m-1) from sowing until the 22th day after sowing (germination and initial growth) and groundwater in remaining stages of the crop cycle; T4 - Saline water (ECw = 5.0 dS m-1) from the 23th to the 42nd day after germination (intense growth and pre-flowering), and groundwater irrigation for the remaining growth stages. T5 - Groundwater from sowing to the 42nd day after sowing and saline water (ECw = 5.0 dS m-1) during flowering and pod-filling stages. Soil coverage, gas exchange, vegetative growth and crop yield were measured. The mineral concentration and quantity of nutrient removed from the soil, as well as the nutrient use efficiency and salt accumulation in soil were also determined. The irrigation with combination of groundwater and saline water reduced the salt accumulation in soil, in relation to continuous use of saline water. The continuous application of water with ECw of 5.0 dS m-1 (T2) reduced the rates of photosynthesis and transpiration, in relation to the well water (T1). Plants of the treatment 3 showed reduction in gas exchanges only in the first measurement, while the saline water application in other growth stages (T 4 and T5) did not provoke significant reductions in leaf in the gas exchanges of the plants. It was found that the continuous use of saline water inhibits plant growth, while the irrigation with saline water during germination and initial growth causes retardation in plant development. For treatments 2 and 3, reduction in the number of pods and in seed production was verified. Irrigation with saline water from the 23rd to the 42nd day (T4) and from the 43rd to the 63rd (T5) day after sowing did not affect reproductive and vegetative growth, but the saline water application in the pre-flowering (T4) caused anticipation of reproductive cycle. Cowpea plants removed the minerals analyzed in the following decreasing sequence: N > K > Cl > Ca > Na > P > Fe > Zn > Mn > Cu, but the continuous use of saline water (T2) reduced the total extracted for the most nutrients, except for Na e Cl. The minerals Na, Cl, K, Ca, Fe and Mn were distributed preferentially to vegetative plant parts, while the most of N and P were exported in the pods. The irrigation with saline water during germination and initial growth stage (T3) reduced the mineral use efficiency of most of analyzed nutrients. The continuous application of saline water (T2) reduced the agronomic efficiency of the fertilizer application (N, P and K), but it did not affect the nutrient use efficiency by the plants.