Análise da Palma Orelha de Elefante mexicana a partir do corte residual.

Abstract

Opuntia stricta Haw. commonly known as the Mexican elephant ear palm, it is commonly used as a forage species in the Brazilian Northeast and, coming from Mexico, it has excellent adaptability to the climatic conditions of the northeastern semi-arid region due to its resistance to water deficit, as well as the insect pest cochineal. crimson that decimated an extensive area of palm plantations in the Semiarid region. Taking into account the importance of O. stricta, the present research aims to evaluate and investigate its performance, based on the residual cladode cut, observing the emission of new cladodes. The research was conducted in an experimental area of the Vegetation House at the Federal University of Campina Grande Campus Cuité. The research period is a time frame from August 2, 2023 to March 3, 2024. The experimental design is in complete randomized blocks, with the treatments known as T1 - Total section of cladodes being adopted, leaving only the matrix cladode ; T2 – Section up to secondary cladodes; T3 – Section leaving the matrix cladode and residual cut of 50% in the others; T4 – Section leaving the matrix cladode and residual cut of 1/3 of the others. The plants were watered five days a week with 2 L of water per plant. Data collection was carried out every 30 days, totaling seven collections during the experiment. The results were subjected to analysis of variance and the means compared using the Tukey test, α ≤ 0.05, using the Sisvar computer application (2014). The results obtained during the experiment are promising in relation to the residual cutting of cladodes, considering that T4 stood out, with the highest number of emission of new cladodes, while in T1 there was a loss of some new cladodes, and finally, treatments T2 and T3 had similar statistical results. In view of the above, the positive influence of the residual cladode cut is notable, taking into account that the emission of new cladodes from this cut not only did not differ from the others, but also proved to be more promising, as assessed in T4.