Pegada hídrica de plantas hortículas cultivadas no semiárido brasileiro

Abstract

The current water crisis is related to several anthropogenic actions on the planet, including the excessive use of water in the agricultural sector. The Water Footprint (PH) is an indicator of the appropriation of water resources that quantifies the direct and indirect use, aiming the establishment of policies for water saving. The objective of this research is to determine the water footprints of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), onion (Allium cepa), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) and coriander (Coriandrum sativum) crops. The experiments were carried out at the Experimental Agrometeorological Station (EstAgro - DCA of the Federal University of Campina Grande) and the PH of each crop was determined based on the crop evapotranspiration determined by the soil water balance method and Cropwat software (FAO, 1989). Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) was determined based on the Penman-Monteith method). The main results of this study allow to conclude that the leafy vegetables have a high component of gray PH compared to the green and blue components of the crops. Blue and green water footprints increase with increasing irrigation and rainfall, but the gray water footprint varies only as a function of crop yield. In addition, it was found that coriander culture is economically viable when grown under irrigation conditions in the Brazilian semiarid conditions.