Soil water deficit influence and organic matter of soil on the growth and development of castor bean BRS 188 – Paraguaçu

Abstract

The castor bean culture is of great importance due to the several applications the oil and it is one of the most important raw materials for the biodiesel extraction. The objective of the present work was to study the sensibility of the castor bean (Cultivar BRS 188 - Paraguaçu) to different levels of water and
organic matter of the soil, evaluating its effects on the development and growth. The experiment was conducted on a greenhouse located on the dependences of the Agricultural Engineering Department of the Federal University of Campina Grande, Paraíba during the period of April to August 2006. The experiment used was a 2 x 4 factorial on a randomized-complete block design, constituted of two soil organic matter contents 5.0 g kg^-1 and 25.0       g kg^-1 and four soil water contents (70, 80, 90 and 100% of the available water for the plants) with 3 replicates. A castor bean plant was conducted until 120 days after the sowing DAS. The soil water content was daily monitored with a probe TDR. After established the development and growth variables, the analysis of variance were made so the Tukey tests was applied to an average comparison, besides the regression to quantitative factors. The results allowed to conclude that the castor bean cultivar BRS 188 was positively influenced by the organic matter and available water on the soil increasing all the variables of growth and development studied.