Efficiency of water use in irrigated tomato cultivars in the semi-arid regions

Drip irrigation in tomato crops has great potential for use in semi-arid regions, due to the strict control of water use. The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficiency of water use in tomato cultivars under different water depth irrigation. In view of this, an experiment was carried out in the municipality of Pentecoste-CE, Brazil. The experimental design used was in randomized blocks with plots subdivided with three replications. The plots consisted of five irrigation levels (50%, 75%, 100%, 125% and 150% of ETcloc), and the subplots consisted of two different tomato cultivars (Santa Adelia and IPA 6), totaling 30 experimental unit. The following variables were analyzed: number of fruits per plant, cracked and commercial; longitudinal and transversal diameter of the fruit; fresh mass of the fruit, yield and efficiency of water use. For the efficiency of water use, the values of 21.7 kg m(-3) were obtained for Santa Adelia and 8.10 kg m(-3) for IPA6. In regime of water scarcity, the use of only 75% of ETcloc, for the conditions of the present study, may be an option for the irrigation management. Cultivar Santa Adelia can be recommended for local conditions, considering the high efficiency of water use.