Resumo

RABERY CACERES, Sixto Hugo  e  RATZLAFF, Lenard Dyck. Fallow period and root growth of safflower Carthamus tinctorius L. in response to soil water content in Central Chaco. Investig. Agrar. [online]. 2011, vol.13, n.1, pp.13-18. ISSN 2305-0683.

Agricultural production in the central Chaco is limited by seasonal lack of water. A trial was conducted at the Isla Poí Experimental Station, Department of Boquerón, Paraguay, between the months of November 2008 and September 2009 with the objective of determining the relationship between duration of chemical fallow, deep water accumulation and root growth of safflower Carthamus tinctorius L. in a Regosol (52% sand, 7% clay and 41%silt), at a depth of 2.6 m. The treatments were 114, 84, 59, 25 and 4-day chemical fallow using as cover crops a local sorghum forage variety that received application of herbicide. The experimental design was in bands with stratified sampling, where the treatments were installed in the bands, with five random samples as replicates. Data were subjected to regression analysis and showed that dry mass of cover crops and fallow duration, are positively related to increased amount of water stored in the soil. As the fallow stay longer on the surface and increase the amount of water accumulated in the soil, the roots of safflower have greater growth and explore the soil deeper. The results show that the use of fallow is a practice that allows water to accumulate in the soil and contributes to the main crop grows and develops best under the conditions of the Chaco central.

Palavras-chave : Coverage; fallow; water; safflower.

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