Fruit quality and production of yellow passion fruit in soil with biofertilizer under irrigation with saline waters

Abstract

The culture of passion fruit presented in recent years expansion of cultivated area, driven mainly by increased domestic consumption of fresh fruit and the juice processed. The Brazil is the largest world producer and consumer of the yellow passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims. f. flavicarpa Deg.), but domestic production did not supply the market demand agribusiness. This work aimed to objective evaluates the effects of different electric conductivities of the irrigation water (ECiw), associated to application frequencies of bovine biofertilizer on physical quality of fruits and production of the yellow passion fruit plants. The treatments were distributed in randomized blocks with three repetitions, using the factorial design 5 x 4, referring to levels of ECiw of 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5 dS m-1, and four frequencies of application of the biofertilizer bovine: without bovine biofertilizer (WBB); with bovine biofertilizer applied one week before of the transplanting (1WBT); application at each interval of 90 days after transplanting (90DAT); and, bovine biofertilizer applied one week before and each interval of 90 days after transplanting (1WBT+90DAT). The increase of the saline concentration of the irrigation water provoked losses of production and physical qualities of the fruits yellow passion fruit plant, being more drastic in the superior conductivity to 2,5 dS m-1. However, reduction of the losses was verified in the treatments with them largest frequency of application of the biofertilizante, resulting in fruits with quality and compatible production with to the demands of the market to the natural and of the industrial section.