Growth of Capsicum chinense Jacq. subjected to different irrigation depths in the northeastern region of Pará, Brazil

Abstract

Capsicum chinense Jacq. presents great prominence in the cuisine of Pará. This crop was cultivated with low technological level in its production chain, however, in the last years, there has been an increase in the size of the planted area, in view of the national and international recognition of the vegetable as a substitute for pepper. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of different irrigation depths on the yield of Capsicum chinense Jacq. cv. Lupita. The experiment was carried out at the Experimental Farm of the Federal Rural University of Amazonia (UFRA), located in the municipality of Igarapé-Açu-PA. The experimental design was a randomized block with five treatments and four replications. The treatments corresponded to five irrigation depths based on the evaporation of the Class ‘A’ pan (ECA) (30, 60, 90, 120 and 150% ECA). The results showed that the maxi­mum commercial yield was 14.0 t ha^-1, reached at 101% ECA, which corresponds to a 724.50 mm depth, and the highest water use efficiency (22.78 kg ha^-1 mm^-1) was obtained with the 458.64 mm total water depth at 56% ECA.