EFEITO DA HIERARQUIA DE RAQUETES DE RAQUETES NA PRODUÇÃO DE BROTAÇÃO E MASSA VERDE DE PALMA ORELHA DE ELEFANTE MEXICANA

Abstract

The forage palm is a cactus of great importance for the Brazilian Semi-Arid, due to the physiological mechanisms that the species presents, supplying the nutritional and water needs of the animals in times of greater scarcity. The present work aimed to verify the response of the Opuntia stricta rackets / cladodes to the position in the matrix plant, survival variables, biometrics, plant sprouting, biometry and sprout production in the semi - arid environment. The work was carried out in the old headquarters of Fazenda Caridade, rural area of the municipality of Campina Grande de Campina Grande - PB. The matrices (primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary rackets) were obtained in the area of planting on the property, after which the identification, cutting and sorting by hierarchy were carried out, after which they were subjected to healing / healing for eight days. The planting was done manually with the racket insertion diagonally and buried in about 1/3 of its width, divided into a raised and dry land. For the purpose of the treatments the following variables were evaluated in the field: plants surviving in number, height of plants in centimeters, width of plants in centimeters and hierarchy of shoots by plants; and in laboratory: length of sprouts / cladodes, width of sprouts / cladodes and green weight of sprouts / cladodes. The data were submitted to analysis of mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation through Microsoft Excel 2010. For the production of fodder or sale of rackets of the Mexican Elephant Ear variety to the matrices that presented the best results were tertiary matrices in dry conditions in situations for all variables tested.