Agronomic Performance and Water Use Efficiency of Irrigated Cactus Pear Cultivars

Abstract

<jats:p>ABSTRACT Cactus pear is an alternative for animal feed in the semiarid region, and its productive characteristics can be improved with little irrigation. The objective of this work was to assess the agronomical performance and water use efficiency (WUE) of two cactus pear cultivars subjected to different irrigation water depths and define the best material genetic material for irrigated conditions in the semiarid region of the state of Minas Gerais (MG), Brazil. The experiment was conducted in Montalvânia, MG, during one year (2017-2018) using six treatments consisting of irrigation water depths based on the reference evapotranspiration (ET0) (without irrigation, 15%, 30%, 45%, 60%, and 75% ET0) and two genetic materials (Opuntia ficus-indica Mill. cv. Gigante, and Nopalea cochenillifera Salm-Dyck cv. Miúda). A randomized block design was used, in a with split-plot arrangement consisting of irrigation treatments in the plots and genetic materials in the subplots, with four replications. Growth evaluations were carried out from the third month after planting to the end of the growing cycle. Production variables and WUE were evaluated at the harvest. The irrigation water depths affected the growth variables, significantly (p&lt;0.05). The water depths of 40% to 50% ET0 provided higher fresh and dry matter yields; the cultivar Miúda showed better performance than the Gigante. The WUE was affected by the irrigation water depths; the cultivar Miúda was the best option for the crop.</jats:p>

Biomass production of 14 accessions of cactus pear (Opuntia spp.) under semi‐arid land conditions

“…Additional studies performed in Brazil on multiple accessions of O. ficus indica and O . ( nee Nopalea ) cochenillifera (Castro et al., 2020) or five different accessions of Opuntia ( nee Nopalea ) spp. (Campos et al., 2021) reported higher biomass yields due to much higher planting densities and greater supplemental irrigation than the current study (Table 4).…”

On-Farm Water Management and its Impacts on Productivity and Quality of Cactus Pear (opuntia ficus-indica)

“…Water use efficiency for each applied irrigation treatment was determined following Castro et al (2020) by dividing total fruit yield by water depth as follows:…”

Morphometry and yield of ‘Gigante’ forage cactus pear under irrigation and different planting densities

“…Among practices used in the cultivation of forage cactus pear, irrigation has been shown to improve forage yield (FERRAZ et al, 2019;CASTRO et al, 2020). However, when considering the limitation of water resources in arid and semi-arid environments, where, under global warming conditions, there is an upward trend of occurrence of severe water stresses, it is necessary to evaluate the use of low-quality water, such as saline water, in forage production (FONSECA et al, 2019).…”