Crescimento de mudas de jaqueira (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) irrigadas com águas salinas

Abstract

The jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is a plant species belonging to the Moraceae family. Some soil and climatic conditions in the country have favored the development of the plant, mainly in the northeastern region. Salinity can affect plants in various ways, mainly by reducing growth. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of electrical conductivity of irrigation water (0.5; 1.5; 2.5; 3.5; 4.5 dS m-1 ) on the growth, indices, and chlorophyll fluorescence of soft jackfruit seedlings. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design with three replications. Leaf area, relative growth rate in height and diameter, dry matter masses, and indices of chlorophyll 'a', 'b', and 'total' and chlorophyll fluorescence were evaluated. The influence of electrical conductivities of irrigation water was observed in all evaluated variables. The increase in electrical conductivity between 0.55 to 1.13 dS m-1 provided an increase in chlorophyll 'a', chlorophyll 'b', chlorophyll 'total', relative growth rate in height, leaf area, and leaf dry matter mass, Fm, Fv/Fm, and Fv/F0 indices, with a reduction with the increase in electrical conductivity of irrigation water. For stem diameter and stem and root dry matter masses, the increase in electrical conductivity reduced the values of these variables from a conductivity of 0.5 dS m-1 .