J. R. C. Bezerra

Evapotranspiration and crop coefficient of irrigated cotton crop, cultivar BRS-200 Marrom

Field experiments were carried out at the EMBRAPA, Barbalha, CE, during the growing seasons of 2003 and 2005 with the objective of estimating the evapotranspiration and crop coefficient of irrigated BRS-200 Marrom cotton cultivar. For this sensors of solar radiation, net radiation, dry and wet bulbs air temperature and wind speed at the 0.30 and 1.50 m levels above crop canopy and soil heat flux were installed and data were collected by a data acquisition system. Crop (ETc) and reference (ETo) evapotranspiration were estimated by the Bowen ratio and Penman-Monteith methods, respectively, while the crop coefficient (Kc) was estimated by the ratio of ETc to ETo. The ETc changed throughout the phonological cycle of the cotton crop, with mean values of 3.8 mm d-1 in the period from emergence to 10% of soil cover (phase I), 5.0 mm d-1 in the period of vegetative growth (phase II), 5.9 mm d-1 in the period of reproductive development (phase III) and 5.4 mm d-1 in the maturation period (phase IV). The Kc may be estimated as a function of the days after emergence (DAE) as: Kc = -0.00006 DAE2 + 0.009 DAE + 0.632.

Estimation of soil moisture in the root-zone from remote sensing data

Field-based soil moisture measurements are cumbersome. Thus, remote sensing techniques are needed because allows field and landscape-scale mapping of soil moisture depth-averaged through the root zone of existing vegetation. The objective of the study was to evaluate the accuracy of an empirical relationship to calculate soil moisture from remote sensing data of irrigated soils of the Apodi Plateau, in the Brazilian semiarid region. The empirical relationship had previously been tested for irrigated soils in Mexico, Egypt, and Pakistan, with promising results. In this study, the relationship was evaluated from experimental data collected from a cotton field. The experiment was carried out in an area of 5 ha with irrigated cotton. The energy balance and evaporative fraction (Λ) were measured by the Bowen ratio method. Soil moisture (θ) data were collected using a PR2 - Profile Probe (Delta-T Devices Ltd). The empirical relationship was tested using experimentally collected Λ and θ values and was applied using the Λ values obtained from the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) and three TM - Landsat 5 images. There was a close correlation between measured and estimated θ values (p<0.05, R2 = 0.84) and there were no significant differences according to the Student t-test (p<0.01). The statistical analyses showed that the empirical relationship can be applied to estimate the root-zone soil moisture of irrigated soils, i.e. when the evaporative fraction is greater than 0.45.

Changes in chemical attributes of a Fluvent cultivated with castor bean and irrigated with wastewater

Agricultural use of wastewater is an alternative to increase water availability, especially in semiarid regions. However, it may cause undesirable chemical changes in the soil. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of wastewater irrigation and castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) cultivation on the chemical attributes of a Fluvic Neosol. The experimental design was in a randomized block, in split-plot scheme, where the main plots were represented by the treatments of irrigation water and castor bean cultivation, and the subplots were the soil layers, with three replications. The treatments were T1 - wastewater irrigation + castor bean cultivation ; T2 - mixture of supply water and wastewater (1:1 ratio) + castor bean cultivation; T3 - supply water irrigation + castor bean cultivation ; and T4 - wastewater application, without castor bean cultivation. The depths of soil layers were 0-10, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40, and 40-50 cm. At the end of study, the content of phosphorus, calcium, potassium, and organic matter increased mainly in the upper layers, and sodium increased in the deeper layers in the wastewater treatments, in comparison to the supply water irrigation. In T4, the disposal of wastewater increased the concentration of magnesium. The pH values, iron and zinc concentration did not statistically differ in the treatments.

Surface energy exchange and evapotranspiration from cotton crop under full irrigation conditions in the Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazilian Semi-Arid

The main objectives of this study were documenting how energy balance partitioning and ET vary seasonally along each growth season of cotton crop under full irrigation conditions in the Brazilian semiarid. The studied area was located in the Apodi Plateau, which is located on west of Rio Grande do Norte state and is an area with extensive agricultural suitability and semiarid climate. Micrometeorological measurements were taken during cotton growth season on dry seasons of 2008 and 2009 years in a cotton crop field of about 5 ha, and the energy balance components were derived from Bowen Ratio Energy Balance (BREB) method. The obtained results revealed important role of the vegetative growth of cotton crop in the energy balance partitioning. The values of LE/Rn ranged from 58% (Initial growth season) to 81% (Middle-growth season) in 2008 and from 63% (Initial) to 81% (Middle season) in 2009. These variations is in accordance to LAI variations, which ranged from 0.14 cm2 cm–2 (Initial growth season in 2008) and 0.18 cm2 cm–2 (Initial growth season in 2009) to about 5.0 cm2 cm–2 (middle season). On the other hand, H/Rn and G/Rn varied inversely with the LAI variations. The concordance between LE/Rn and LAI is evidenced by similarity between curves of ET and LAI and between curves of Kc and LAI, especially when LAI reaches values greater than 3.0.

Crescimento e produção de genótipos de gergelim em função de lâminas de irrigação

Aiming to evaluate the growth and productive capacity of different sesame genotypes, submitted to irrigation depths, an experiment was conducted at the Experimental Station of Embrapa, in Barbalha, CE. Five depths of irrigation and three genotypes of sesame were studied. These combined factors resulted in 15 treatments. The experiment was arranged in strips with 4 replications, resulting in 60 experimental units. Destructive growth analysis was performed, with samplings at 15 days interval to estimate leaf area and biomass. The growth variables were studied in 10 plants in each plot. At the end of the cycle, the production and its components were evaluated. The highest values of yield components were obtained with the water depth of 1026.50 mm. The growth of genotypes was affected by different irrigation depths, with higher growth of BRS Seda, in the higher availability of water, and in the lowest availability the genotype 27561-ELAG09 was the best. The highest levels of oil and protein were obtained in higher water availability.

Efeito do manejo da irrigação e de populações de plantas sobre o rendimento do algodoeiro herbáceo

In an alluvial soil, silt loam, of Acu valley, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, a research was carried out to study the effect of time of the last irrigation and plant population on yield and plant height of the herbaceous cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.r. latifolium Hutch) cultivar Acala del cerro. Treatments consisted of times of the last irrigation at 65, 80, 95 and 110 days after emergence and populations with 30,000, 60,000, 90,000 and 120,000 plants/ha. The experimental plan was a randomized complete blocks in a split-plot design, with four replications. Delaying time of last irrigation increased height and plant populations. A significant effect (P £ 0.01) of interaction between time of last irrigation and plant population was found for cotton yield. The highest cotton yield (4,090 kg/ha) was obtained with the interaction between time of last irrigation at 95 days and in population of 90,000 plants/ha. Irrigation times at 65 and 80 days were considered too early, and at 110 days too late for cotton yields.

Energy balance partitioning and evapotranspiration from irrigated Muskmelon under Semi-Arid Conditions

The Mossoró-Assu-Baraúna district, Rio Grande do Norte State (RN), is recognized by the intense production of horticulture, mainly muskmelon for export. However, this region is often devastated by intense droughts. Thus, the muskmelon production is predominantly under irrigated condition and, due to constant threat of water resources collapse on the region, a rigorous irrigation water management in the region is needed. The main objective of this article was to analyze the seasonal pattern of energy balance partitioning and evapotranspiration on irrigated muskmelon crop on the region around Mossoró-RN. The study was carried out in two areas of commercial production of muskmelons in the Mossoró-Assu-Barúna district, during two growth seasons from 2012-Jun to 2012-Nov. The components of energy balance AGROMETEOROLOGY Article Energy balance partitioning and evapotranspiration from irrigated Muskmelon under Semi-Arid Conditions Giuliana Mairana Morais de Sousa Vanomark1, José Espínola Sobrinho1, José Renato Cortez Bezerra2, Carlos Antonio Costa dos Santos3, Pedro Vieira de Azevedo3, Saulo Tasso Araújo da Silva4, Bergson Guedes Bezerra5* 1.Universidade Federal Rural do Semiárido Programa de Pós-graduação em Manejo de Solo e Água Mossoró (RN), Brazil. 2.Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária Embrapa Algodão Campina Grande (PB), Brazil. 3.Universidade Federal de Campina Grande Unidade Acadêmica de Ciências Atmosféricas Campina Grande (PB), Brazil. 4.Universidade Federal Rural do Semiárido Departamento de Ciências Ambientais e Tecnológicas Mossoró (RN), Brazil. 5.Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte Departamento de Ciências Atmosféricas e Climáticas Natal (RN), Brazil. *Corresponding author: bergson.bezerra@gmail.com Received: Oct. 31, 2016 – Accepted: Feb. 28, 2017 and evapotranspiration were determined by using the Bowen Ratio Energy Balance method. It was observed that more than 60% of the net radiation (Rn) was converted into latent heat flux (λE), while 21 and 11% of Rn was converted into sensible heat flux (H) and soil heat flux (G), respectively. The ratio λE/Rn varies according to the change of leaf area index (LAI) while the ratios H/Rn and G/Rn vary inversely with the LAI. The agreement λE/Rn and LAI is also evidenced by similarity between curves of crop evapotranspiration (ETc) and LAI, particularly when the melon crop reaches its maximum vegetative growth (LAI > 3). The muskmelon ETc ranged from 265 to 289 mm, values that are similar to those found by other researcher.