Consumo de agua y nitrógeno en espárrago (Asparragus officinalis L.) de baja población de plantas con riego por cinta

Abstract

Because of its high demand in the international markets asparagus (Asparragus officinalis L.) is the most profitable culture in the Caborca region of the Mexican state of Sonora, besides of the its economic revenues, and employement generation during harvest time. Nevertheless, it is a culture that demands a great amount of water -a scarce element in the region- to obtain a good production, to this must be added the high electricity charges due to water extraction from deep wells. The aim of this research was to determine the right N dose, and the best percentage of reference evapotranspiration (ETo) for low density asparagus plants. The experiment was carried out at the INIFAP’s experimental station at Caborca, during the cycle 2004-2005 with the variety Atlas, eight years old. The treatments were: 200 and 600 kg ha-1 N; as well as 72, 128 and 217 % of ETo, in a completely randomized design, with 6 treatments, and 4 replications in factorial adjustment AxB, where A = N fertilization and B = reference evapotranspiration (ETo). The evaluated variables were height of the plant, length of turions, and yield. The results indicated that the low density asparagus plants not only require a constant humidity rate, but also N enough to obtain good quality turions. Therefore, it is recommended to apply 600 kg ha-1 N and at least 128% ETo.