Growth analysis for three pineapple cultivars grown on plastic mulch and bare soil

Résumé 0

"In order to determine the growth behavior of three pineapplecultivars (Ananas comosus var. comosus) grown on soilwith and without plastic mulch and bare soil, an experiment wasestablished in Veracruz State, México. The annual rainfall was1200mm, the annual average temperature 23ºC and the altitudeof 50masl. The experimental design was in randomized blockswith four replications in a split plot; the treatments were plasticmulch and bare soil, and in each one the cultivars ‘Champaka’,‘Oro’ and ‘Smooth Cayenne’ were evaluated. Dry mass accumulationand foliar area of the plants were determined at eight differentdates during the production cycle and the relative growthrate (RGR), unit leaf ratio (ULR), leaf area ratio (LAR), andleaf area index (LAI) were estimated. Plants grown on soil withplastic mulch cover were superior to those grown on bare soilfor foliage dry mass production, leaf area and LAI, presentinghigher RGR, ULR and lower LAR. Plants of the ‘Oro’ cultivarshowed higher RGR and ULR during the vegetative phase inrelation to the other cultivars, but lower ones than ‘Smooth Cayenne’plants during the reproductive phase. ‘Champaka’ had anintermediate behavior. There were no significant differencesamong the cultivars in relation to lead dry mass production, leafarea and LAI."