Avaliação da produtividade de cultivares de feijão-caupi (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) submetidas à privação hídrica durante a fase vegetativa

Abstract

The Brazil is a country with enormous production capacity, especially in the primary sector, and even during the world crisis caused by the pandemic of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2), this sector accounted for about 26% of the national GDP and more than half of exports. This great productive power demands an intense exploitation of natural resources, especially water, an indispensable resource for the maintenance of life and fundamental for food production. This causes a strong national and international pressure for the search of more efficient methods and the best management of these resources, seeking to respect the pillars of sustainability (economic, social, and environmental). In this scenario of difficulties and challenges, especially for the most humble and disadvantaged populations, Food Sovereignty and Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) are issues that have gained relevance, especially with regard to the search for crops that meet the demands of these populations. Thus, the cowpea, a species that is one of the main components of the diet, especially in the North, Northeast, and Center-West regions of Brazil. This crop is extremely important for family farmers, since they use traditional techniques and practices of planting, harvesting, threshing, and storage. However, it is increasingly gaining space in large-scale mechanized cultivation, especially in the "safrinha", after rice, corn, and soybean harvests. Considering the relevance of this crop, this study aimed to investigate the influence of water deprivation stress on the productivity parameters of two cultivars of cowpea plants (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. The cultivars BRS Guariba, improved and released by Embrapa for cultivation in the North Region, and a local cultivar named Arigó, obtained from family farmers in the municipality of Humaitá (AM), were used. During the experiment we analyzed data related to height of the aerial part and stem thickness, number of pods, number of grains per plant, length of pod, weight of 100 grains and average production of plants induced to different levels of water deprivation during the vegetative phase.