Soil Matric Potential for the Biquinho Pepper Submitted to Irrigation Levels and Biofertilizer Doses

2. Federal Institute of Pernambuco, Barreiros, Brazil

Abstract: The control of the hydric status of the soil allows the knowledge of the soil available water for the plants, essential information for the decisions with respect to the rational management of the irrigation and crop production. This control can be performed throughout the direct determination of the soil water content or measuring the energy by which this water is retained by the soil, called matric potential. The objective of the present work was to relate the soil water content with the matric potentials monitored throughout the use of tensiometers. For this, an experiment was conducted with the biquinho pepper submitted to 5 levels of irrigation. With the exception of the treatment with the lowest irrigation level (L4) the matric potentials observed for the levels L1 and L2 were always greater than the -8kPa, furnishing to the biquinho pepper an adequate water supplement. The L3 treatment produced matric potentials close to the -8kPa recommended and considered adequate for the irrigation of pepper, theoretically not producing a water deficit. The monitoring of the soil matric potentials to obtain the soil water content is an excellent and useful tool for an adequate irrigation management.