Desempenho produtivo e qualidade dos frutos do maracujazeiro cultivado em manejo orgânico, sob mulching e sistema automatizado de irrigação

Abstract

Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims) is a fruit of outstanding importance in the market, and can be consumed in several ways, the most common in nature, in drinks and sweets. The largest volume of passion fruit roots is found in the most superficial layer of the soil, in the first approximately 15 cm of depth, and yet this is restricted in the vicinity of the plant's collection. Such a characteristic may disadvantage the full productive performance of this tropical fruit tree, especially when water stress occurs. Nowadays, the concern with the more efficient use of water in agricultural practices is a widely discussed issue and, in several areas of production, new technologies are being tested in order to obtain the maximum economy of this natural resource, so threatened by climate change and its unsustainable use. Organic agriculture is increasingly standing out, as it emerges as an alternative to food security, with the production of healthy food and low environmental impact, respecting the integrity of peoples and adopting practices for the conservation of natural resources. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the influence of different volumes of water applied in the passion fruit culture, grown under organic system and associated with soil cover, for the region of the lowlands of Rio de Janeiro, a state that presents low productivity for this culture. In the experiment, set up in the Fazendinha Agroecológica Km 47 field, present in the municipality of Seropédica-RJ, five different volumes of water were offered, namely: (T1) 610.8; (T2) 1018.1; (T3) 1527.1; (T4) 2036.1 and (T5) 3054.2 L. plant -1 during the off-season, which lasted 238 days. The soil was covered by raffia mulching composed of polypropylene. Its implementation took place in November 2018, with the use of previously prepared seedlings of yellow and purple passion fruit. Variables related to production were analyzed, namely: number of fruit per plant (NFP), average mass per fruit (MF), fruit mass per plant (MFP) and estimated fruit productivity (PE). The post-harvest variables evaluated were: diameter of the central cylinder of the fruits (DC), longitudinal diameter of the fruits (DL), average pulp mass (MP), pulp yield per fruit (RP), total titratable acidity (ATT), pH and soluble solids content (TSS). A greater number of fruits is obtained per plant when it is added close to 1020 L. plant-1 applied during the first harvest; smaller volumes provide an increase: in the average fruit mass, in the fruit mass per plant and, therefore, in fruit productivity. However, for the evaluated and local conditions, the volumes of water provided by automated irrigation in passion fruit do not influence the post-harvest variables analyzed, both for yellow peel and purple peel fruits