Cultivo da palma forrageira ‘Gigante’ em agroecossistemas do semiárido baiano

Abstract

Given its potential to adapt to climatic conditions in the semiarid region, associated with the scarcity of food for animals during long periods of drought, the 'Gigante' cactus pear (Opuntia fícus-indica Mill) presents itself as an energy and water source for animals, besides being a culture more accessible to family farmers. The edaphoclimatic conditions of the cultivation agroecosystems, genotypic characteristics of the plant and the management system adopted can influence the nutritional quality of the cactus pear used in animal feed. The cactus pear establishes high interaction with the cultivation environment. Therefore, it is assumed that the plant structure, mineral and chemical composition of the cladodes, green mass productivity and quality of forage produced depends on the interrelation of edaphoclimatic factors (agroecosystems), production system (management) that involves man and his knowledge, and the genotype of the plant. Thus, there is the challenge of establishing the best plant-environment-human relationship and maximizing the productive potential of culture. The objective was to characterize the soils of traditional cactus pear cropping systems and interrelate it with the productivity and structure of the plant, the mineral and bromatological composition of the cladodes in agroecosystems of Bahia semiarid. Five agroecosystems were analyzed: 1 -Ceraíma, Guanambi-BA (14° 17’ 40” S, 42° 42’ 44” W); 2 - Vale do Iuiu, Iuiu-BA (14° 23’50” S, 43° 27’ 07” W); 3 - Maniaçu, Caetité-BA (13° 48’ 50” S, 42° 24’ 32” W); 4 - Baixio, Riacho de Santana-BA (13° 32’ 08” S, 43° 09’ 19” W); 5 - Morrinhos, Guanambi-BA (14° 14’02” S, 42° 37’ 08” W). Cactus pear tissue sampling was performed from August to September 2017. A hierarchical model design was used with three replicate plots arranged in each cactus pear production system, represented by four farm, within five agroecosystems, result in 20 traditional cactus pear farmers. Ceraíma and Iuiu, environments with greater natural fertility enabled the expression of the highest annual green mass productivity. The highest number of cladodes per plant was obtained in Morrinhos and Ceraíma. However, Maniaçu produced cladodes with greater width and, together with Ceraíma, had cladodes with greater length. In addition to achieving the best structural results of cladodes per plant, Maniaçu stood out with the highest averages in the levels of crude protein and neutral detergent fiber, which provide better quality of the cladode for use as forage. The agroecosystem influenced more the length and width of the cladodes, the organic matter and the mineral material in the plant. The production systems established by the producers affected the mass production of cladodes per plant, the productivity of green mass, the total area of cladodes and the number of cladodes produced per plant, the levels of dry matter, nitrogen, crude protein and fiber in neutral detergent. Despite being more influenced by the production system, the plant height and thickness of cladodes were similar between the areas of crop of cactus pear. The characteristics most affected by the effect of the plant (genotype) were the levels of fat or ether extract (EE) in the cladodes, the capacity of mass production by cladode and the levels of neutral detergent fiber in the tissues of the cladodes. It is hoped that the results generated in this research can contribute to the improvement of cactus pear cropping systems that recognize the specificities of agroecosystems, maximizing the productive potential of the plant and favoring its ability to live with environmental limitations.