DEFICIT HÍDRICO INDUZIDO NO DESENVOLVIMENTO VEGETATIVO DO TOMATEIRO INDUSTRIAL

Abstract

The tomato culture is an expressive activity in Brazil and the state of Goiás stands out in tomato industrial production. Its planting occurs in drought period, and therefore, the practice of irrigation is important. A common practice among farmers in this state is the irrigation suspension a few days after transplanting. The water deficit effect on the crop has been studied, aiming to define the best time for the water deficit beginning and its intensity. This study was developed aiming to evaluate the water deficit effect on the vegetative development of the industrial tomato and determine the best period to start inducing this deficit. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse at the Agronomy School of the Federal University of Goiás, in randomized blocks, with 5 replicates. The treatments were factorial in two water deficit beginning days (ten and twenty days after transplanting) and three stresses (40, 60, and 70 kPa) and a treatment without water deficit, keeping the tension at 30 kPa. Results allowed to conclude that there was a difference among the water deficit beginning day and the stresses during the deficit, with tendency to equalize until the harvesting due date, showing a higher production in the treatment without water deficit and in the treatment under 60 kPa, with deficit started ten days after transplanting