Articles
Water requirements of pitahaya in subtropical climates
Article number
1452_23
Pages
179 – 186
Language
English
Abstract
The pitaya or pitahaya (Selenicereus spp.) is a tropical epiphytic climbing cactus native to Mesoamerica, with climatic requirements associated with its tropical origin, temperatures around 18-25°C and moderate relative humidity.
In the Canary Islands, with suitable conditions for its cultivation, the expansion of the crop has been very limited until now but given the interest of the growing sector in diversifying crops, pitahaya has been considered an interesting alternative as it has low water requirements and a rising commercial popularity due to its physico-chemical, nutritional and organoleptic properties.
In order to optimise water use efficiency, in the present trial we worked to determine the effect of different levels of soil matric potential on the productivity of the pitahaya species Selenicereus hybridum: R1) applying irrigation when reaching a maximum tension of 30-35 cb, and R2) when reaching a maximum tension of 20-25 cb.
For this purpose, the same irrigation dosage was applied, varying the frequency according to the treatment.
The volume of water applied during one crop year was 258 and 326 L m‑2 in treatments R1 and R2 respectively.
No significant differences in yield were found between irrigation treatments, being 5.0 and 6.0 kg plant‑1 in treatments R1 and R2, respectively.
With these data, the water productivity for treatments R1 and R2 was 95 and 104 m3 t‑1 for treatments R1 and R2, respectively.
According to the results obtained, it is possible to work on reducing the amount of water applied without affecting crop production and improving water use efficiency.
In the Canary Islands, with suitable conditions for its cultivation, the expansion of the crop has been very limited until now but given the interest of the growing sector in diversifying crops, pitahaya has been considered an interesting alternative as it has low water requirements and a rising commercial popularity due to its physico-chemical, nutritional and organoleptic properties.
In order to optimise water use efficiency, in the present trial we worked to determine the effect of different levels of soil matric potential on the productivity of the pitahaya species Selenicereus hybridum: R1) applying irrigation when reaching a maximum tension of 30-35 cb, and R2) when reaching a maximum tension of 20-25 cb.
For this purpose, the same irrigation dosage was applied, varying the frequency according to the treatment.
The volume of water applied during one crop year was 258 and 326 L m‑2 in treatments R1 and R2 respectively.
No significant differences in yield were found between irrigation treatments, being 5.0 and 6.0 kg plant‑1 in treatments R1 and R2, respectively.
With these data, the water productivity for treatments R1 and R2 was 95 and 104 m3 t‑1 for treatments R1 and R2, respectively.
According to the results obtained, it is possible to work on reducing the amount of water applied without affecting crop production and improving water use efficiency.
Authors
S. Valle, V. Raya
Keywords
Selenicereus, water use efficiency, irrigation management, productivity
Groups involved
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