Water consumption of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) fertigated with vinasse in the formation phase

• Grant number: 14/10026-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: November 01, 2014
• End date: October 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agricultural Engineering - Soil and Water Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Marcos Vinícius Folegatti
• Grantee: Jefferson Vieira José
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The oil palm crop (Elaeis quineensis Jacq.) stands out by its elevated oil productivity, being the most consumed in the world, ahead of the soybean oil. The oil of the oil palm became the industrial-oleaginous product of higher marketing potential when compared to the yield obtained by other oleaginous crops. Considering this scenario, and the potential of economic growth of this crop, it has been adopted for the best use of agricultural and degraded lands. However, in face to the irregular distribution of precipitation in some Brazilian regions makes necessary the use of irrigation techniques, aiming to eliminate the occurrence of water deficiency and consequently reduce of productivity. Investigations regarding the water demand of oil palm are yet limited, being indispensable the execution of researches that provides this fundamental parameter to the adequate management of irrigation. The present study has the objective to evaluate the water balance of the oil palm in its initial phase of development, in a fertigation system with vinasse, by drip irrigation. Additionally it will be contemplated the indication of a dose of vinasse application that afford a satisfactory development of the crop allied to the optimization of the use of inputs and environmental integrity. The experiment will be installed in the experimental area of the Fazenda Areão of ESALQ/USP, in the city of Piracicaba-SP. The crop evapotranspiration (ET) and the evaporation (E) will be determined by the use of weighing lysimeters. The simple crop coefficient will be determined in the treatments without vinasse application by the relation between crop evapotranspiration with the reference evapotranspiration (ETo), being this last one daily estimated by the Penman-Monteith method from the data collected in the automatic meteorological station installed in the experimental area. The evapotranspiration and the crop coefficients will be obtained by the relation between E and T, respectively, with ETo estimated by the ASCE Penman-Monteith method in horary scale. (AU)