ABSTRACT
Asparagus crop (Asparagus officinalis L.) response to different water regimes during the first two establishment seasons

Raúl Ferreyra E.1, José M. Peralta A.1, Gabriel Sellés van S.1, Norbert Fritsch F.2, Felipe Contador F.2 y Alejandro Rubio F.2
 

Irrigation field experiments in asparagus crop during establishment period were carried out at La Platina Regional Research Center (INIA, Santiago), in 1987/88 and 1988/89 seasons. Water treatments were evaluated, using a simple line sprinkler system, proposed by Hanks et al. (1980). Crop evapotranspiration (ET) was determined through thesoil water balance method; soil moisture was measured with a neutron probe. Watering treatments consisted on applications of 0 to 1.1 times the evapotranspiration (ET). An exponential relationship between yield and increasing water height at soil profile level was found. The maximum dry matler yield was reached in the 84.5% Eb treatment. The relationship (Ky) between relative reduction in yield and relative change in ET was 0.98 in a range of moisture lowering from 0 to 46%. The crop coefficient (Kc) reached a maximum value of 1.0 in the second year. Water use efficiency increased with ET and reached a maximum of 2.14 kg/m3. Moisture increased depth and lateral extension of the root system. Xylem water potential decreased down to -2.27 MPa when moisture restriction increased from 5.2 to 84.5% of the Eb . The incidence of Fusarium was increased when total water applied was 60% larger than the seasonal ET.

Keywords: asparagus, irrigation, evapotranspiration, root distribution
1 Centro Regional de Investigación La Platina (INIA), Casilla 439, Correo 3, Santiago, Chile.