Avaliação do crescimento e produtividade de uma cultivar de mandioca biofortificada em áreas com e sem irrigação no Baixo Amazonas

Abstract

Cassava is one of the main agricultural crops in the Amazon region, playing an important socioeconomic role in family farming and regional food security. In this context, biofortified cultivars such as BRS Dourada show potential for nutritional improvement and adaptation to tropical edaphoclimatic conditions. This study aimed to evaluate the growth and productivity of the BRS Dourada cassava cultivar under irrigated and non-irrigated conditions in the municipality of Juruti, Pará, Brazil. The experiment was conducted at the Farinharia Puxirum property, located in the Lago Verde community, from February 2025 to February 2026. A completely randomized design was adopted, consisting of two treatments, T1 with irrigation and T2 without irrigation, with 14 replications each. Irrigation was performed using a microsprinkler system during the Amazonian dry season, considering the physical and hydraulic characteristics of the soil, classified as sandy and with low water retention capacity. Evaluations were carried out at 90, 180, 270, and 360 days after planting, analyzing vegetative and productive variables, including total number of leaves, plant height, stem diameter, number of roots, root length and diameter, productivity, and harvest index. Data were subjected to analysis of variance, and means were compared using Student’s t-test at a 5% significance level. The results demonstrated satisfactory agronomic performance of the cultivar under the environmental conditions of the Lower Amazon region, showing good adaptation to the cultivation environment. Irrigation did not promote significant differences for most of the analyzed variables, indicating productive stability of the cultivar even under moderate water restriction conditions. Therefore, the BRS Dourada cultivar shows potential for regional cultivation and may contribute to strengthening cassava production and food security in the Amazon.