Broccoli Production With Regulated Deficit Irrigation at Different Phenological Stages

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different levels of soil water replacement in each phenological stage of broccoli crop cultivated in a protected environment. The experiment was conducted in a protected environment in the municipality of Maringá, Paraná, Brazil. The experimental design used was in randomized blocks 4 by 3 having four levels of water replacement (55, 70, 85, and 100% of crop evapotranspiration) applied in three phenological stages (initial, intermediate, and final), and four replications. Productivity, inflorescence fresh matter, leaf fresh matter, stem fresh matter, number of leaves, stem diameter, inflorescence height, inflorescence diameter, plant height, leaf area, inflorescence dry matter, stem dry matter and leaf dry matter were evaluated. The data were submitted to variance analysis and compared by Scott-Knott test and regression analysis. Deficit of 30% of the ETc during the final stage of the broccoli crop, reduced productivity by 7%, on the other hand for the initial and intermediate stages, there was a drop of 30% and 23% respectively. The water deficit caused significant losses in broccoli production during the first phenological stages, but the final stage was less critical.