Irrigation with Irrigas, Class A pan and an low cost controller in the organic cultivation of lettuce/Irrigacao no cultivo organico de alface utilizando Irrigas, tanque Classe A e um sistema automatico de baixo custo

• Published in: Ciência rural 2014-11, Vol.44 (11), p.1950
• Main Authors: Goncalves, Fabiola Vieira, Medici, Leonardo Oliveira, de Almeida, Wilk Sampaio, de Carvalho, Daniel Fonseca, dos Santos, Hugo Thaner, Gomes, Daniela Pinto
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Subjects: Economic aspects; Soil moisture; Water use
• ISSN: 0103-8478
• DOI: 10.1590/0103-8478cr20131448

The objective of the present research was to compare an low cost controller with two other techniques of irrigation management, Irrigas system and Class A pan, in the cultive of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.),concerning operability of systems, equipment costs, applied depths and crop yield data. The cultivation was developed in a randomized complete blocks design with four treatments randomized in six replicates. The treatments were characterized by the system Irrigas, Class A pan (TCA) and the use of automatic irrigation of low cost device (AAI) in two different soil water tensions (9.0kPa and 12.0kPa). Data of irrigation depth, water use efficiency and production variables leaf area, fresh and dry weight of shoots, diameter and height of the head were evaluated. There wasn't significant difference between treatments for any of the production variables evaluated (P> 0.05) and total irrigation depths were related to different management practices and close to the evapotranspiration estimated reference (ETo) accumulated in the period. The water use efficiency in treatments TCA, AAI/9kPa, Irrigas, AAI/12kPa were, respectively, 241.4, 217.9, 205.5 and 267.1kg ha1 [mm.sup.-1], while the productivities were, respectively, 32.80, 28.86, 28.80 and 35.45Mg [ha.sup.-1]. The results obtained are close to values reported in the literature, allowing to conclude that the evaluated methodologies were efficient for growing lettuce and thus the method chosen would depend on the availability of skilled manpower and also of the level of farmer training. Key words: irrigation management, automation, Lactuca sativa L. O presente estudo teve como objetivo comparar um sistema automatico de baixo custo a outras duas tecnicas de manejo (sistema Irrigas e tanque classe A) na cultura da alface (Lactuca sativa L.) com relacao a operacionalidade dos sistemas, custo dos equipamentos, laminas aplicadas e dados de producao da cultura. O cultivo foi desenvolvido num delineamento experimental de blocos ao acaso, com quatro tratamentos casualizados em seis blocos. Os tratamentos foram caracterizados pelo sistema Irrigas, tanque Classe A (TCA) e pelo uso de um acionador automatico de baixo custo para irrigacao (AAI), em duas tensoes de agua no solo (9,0kPa e 12,0kPa). Foram avaliados dados de lamina aplicada, eficiencia no uso da agua e as variaveis de producao, area foliar, massafresca e seca da parte aerea, diametro e altura da cabeca. Nao houve diferenca significativa entre os tratamentos p