LACERDA, R. D.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/2596885114775701; LACERDA, Rogério Dantas de.
Résumé:
The castor been culture is of great importance due to the several applications of one of its
sub-products, the oil, being this the only glycerid soluble in alcohol, one of the most
important raw material for the biodiesel extraction and the basis for diverse other industrial
products. These properties give to the culture an important potential from the economical
and strategic viewpoint of the country. The objective of the present work was to study the
sensibility of the castor bean (Cultivar BRS 188 - Paraguacu) to different levels of water and
organic matter of the soil, on the development, growing and production. The experiment was
conducted on a greenhouse located on the dependences of the Agricultural Engineering
Department of the Federal University of Campina Grande, Paraiba during the period of April
to August 2006. The experiment used was a 2 x 4 factorial on a ramdomized-complete
block design, constituted of two soil organic matter contents (0,5 e 2,5%) and four soil water
contents (100, 90, 80 e 70% of the available water for the plants) with 3 replicates. A castor
bean plant was grown on a 75 Kg capacity plastic vase until 120 days. The soil water content
was daily monitored with TDR equipment. After measured the development, growing and
production variables, the results were submitted to the analyses of variance, Tuckey tests and
regression analysis to study the effect of the treatments. The results allowed to conclude that
the castor bean cultivar BRS 188 was positively influenced by the increase of organic matter
and water on the soil. The high water use efficiency obtained, mainly on the presence of
organic matter and irrigation when the soil available water reaches 90% turn necessary the
use of these insumes to obtain the best sustainability of the castor bean production.