Densidade de plantio e produção do maracujazeiro-amarelo no Sul do Brasil

Abstract

The fruticulture presents itself as important income source adapted for the small family farmer, due to high demand on hand labor and high performance on small farms. A fruit tree adapted and great potential in Brazil is the yellow Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims), due its production cycle to be relatively short, high productivity and high quality juice. According to the excellent adaptability of culture diversity in climate and soil of Brazil, it is possible the production of Passion fruit in all regions of the country. However, little is known of their growth, development and performance at conditions of southern Rio Grande do Sul, where there winters with frosts and shorter summers over the tropics. This study aims to evaluate the productive and physicochemical characteristics in fruits of yellow Passion fruit tree produced in Pelotas/RS, under three planting densities. The work was developed in UFPel/FAEM, in the years 2011 and 2012. It was used the selection ‘Ovalado Grande' of yellow Passion fruit, developed by Epagri/EEUR. The planting was realized in October 2011, under the conduction system in trellis, with drip irrigation and manual pollination. The treatments (planting density) were: treatment D1 with distance of 2,5m between plants using one plant per hole, 1.600 plants per hectare (plants ha -¹); treatment D2 with distance of 1,5m between plants using o ne plant per hole, 2.666 plants ha -¹; treatment D3 with distance of 2,5m between plants using two plants per hole, 3.200 plants.ha -¹. In all treatments the spacing between rows was 2,5m. The production variables were estimated productivity (P), production per plant (PP), number of fruits per plant (NFP), number of fruits per hectare (NFH), average fruit weight (MMF) and days from anthesis through fruit ripening (DAMF). The physicochemical variables were: soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (AT), SS/AT ratio (RATIO), skin color (CE), the average thickness of pericarp (EP), the average length of fruit (CMF) average width of fruit (DMF) and yield pulp (RP). There was no statistically significant difference between treatments for the variables MMF (249,24g) and DAA (73,5 days). For the production variables, PP, NFP and NFH were superior to systems less dense, so the treatment D1, performed better. However, considering that higher density planting of yellow Passion fruit promotes greater produtivity, the treatment D3 obtained better performance in this context, achieving an excellent produtivity, 25,45 t ha -¹. For physicochemical variables, there was no influence of the treatments on all variables. However, fruits showed great quality, with excellent standard for the fresh fruit market, with values considered high standard for the variables CMF (107,30mm), DMF (85,39mm), SS (11.25ºBrix) AT (5,67%), EP (5,73mm) and RP (51,42%). It is recommended the cultivation of yellow Passion fruit tree in Pelotas, RS, using a planting density of 3.200 plants ha -¹ (2,5 x 2,5m with two plants per hole).