Determinación de los requerimientos hídricos del cultivo de brócoli (Brassica oleracea L. Var. Avenger) bajo condiciones edafoclimáticas del cantón Cevallos, Provincia de Tungurahua

Abstract

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L.) Var. Avenger is a vegetable of great importance in Ecuador, specifically in the provinces of Cotopaxi and Tungurahua. This research had as its central axis the determination of the crop's water requirement; soil water parameters; biometric parameters of the plant and its cultivation coefficient (Kc). The research was carried out at the Querochaca Experimental Farm, Technical University of Ambato; located in the canton of Cevallos, Province of Tungurahua. An area of 389 m2 was selected which was delimited for two treatments, each treatment had 3 experimental plots of 60 m2 with 10 sample plants. The results obtained were as follows: water requirement during the entire crop was 218 mm for Treatment 1 and 252.5 mm for Treatment 2. The soil water parameters yielded a field capacity (CC) of 15.1%, permanent wilt point (PMP) of 7.28% and bulk density (DA) of 1.55 g cm-3. The biometric parameters in Treatment 1 (Penman-Monteith method) obtained an average final height of 55.96 cm, with an average of 13 leaves, a yield of 11.48 t ha-1, a root volume of 58.66 cm3; for Treatment 2 (evaporimeter tank method) the final average height of 68 cm, with an average of 15 leaves, a yield of 24.75 t ha-1 and a root volume of 82 cm3. The culture coefficient (Kc) for Treatment 1 was 0.73 in the initial stage, 1.02 in the development stage, 0.43 in the intermediate stage and 0.11 in the final stage; for Treatment 2 it was 0.58 in the initial stage, 1.06 in the development stage, 0.56 in the intermediate stage and 0.32 in the final stage. Keywords: broccoli Var. Avenger, water requirement, biometric parameters, culture coefficient, evaporimeter tank, Penman-Monteith