ABSTRACT Irrigation can provide significant agronomic and financial returns on agricultural activity. The maximization of the benefits obtained from irrigation depends, among other factors, on the water use efficiency, which is intrinsically related to application uniformity. For the sprinkler method, the irrigation uniformity assessment is based on results of labor-intensive field tests in which the two-dimensional water distribution pattern is measured in a grid of catch cans. The aim of this study was to evaluate a simplified methodology for determining the irrigation uniformity using water depth distribution data of a single sprinkler head in operation, positioned at the intersection of two diagonal alignments containing regularly spaced catch cans. Three methods to simulate the spatial water distribution on the alignments were evaluated: linear interpolation (LI), cubic spline (SC) and second-degree polynomial regression (PR). Each of these methods were associated with a procedure to calculate the two-dimensional spatial water distribution. The adequacy of the LI and SC modeling methods was verified by using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test (p-value < 0.05) applied to the data of the field tests. Mean values of the coefficient of efficiency equals to 0.771 and 0.785 were obtained for the LI and SC methods, respectively. The PR method underperformed the others.

Based on sensitivity analyses the effect of changing in climate on sorghum has been investigated. This has been achieved by conducting crop modeling experiments carried out with weather observations and output of global climate models. As can be anticipated results demonstrated that the sorghum yield is more sensitive to rainfall, solar radiation and CO2 concentration. However, the increase in CO2 concentration has a positive effect on yield in years that the crop is submitted to water stress. This effect is extremely reduced under well watered conditions and therefore is subject to the climate inter-annual variability. Accumulated solar radiation along the sorghum cycle below 1900 MJ m–2 has also been shown to reduce the yield. Compared to other weather variables the sorghum yield is less sensitive to changes in relative humidity. In this sense, changes in stomatal closure and therefore photosyntesis is not highly dependent on water vapor pressure. These finds can be applied for both climate observations and global models output.

O banco de germoplasma de milho (BGMilho) preserva quase 4000 acessos visando conservação e uso. Entretanto, esse uso é reduzido, pois seus acessos apresentam desempenho inferior aos genótipos elite. O pré-melhoramento visa contornar esse problema, ampliando a informação sobre o germoplasma e introgredindo alelos úteis. A má distribuição de chuvas e a seca levam a perdas de produção de milho, o que faz com que a tolerância à seca seja uma das prioridades do melhoramento.Neste trabalho, foram avaliados acessos do BGMilho quanto à tolerância à seca. Fatores ambientais, genotípicos e suas interações influenciaram a manifestação fenotípica, entretanto a interação entre genótipos e regimes de irrigação esteve ausente, levando a não identificação de acessos com comportamento diferenciado nas duas condições hídricas. Os seguintes acessos foram destacados devido ao comportamento superior para vários caracteres: SP154, BA166, MG099, CE002, SE025, BA154, BA194, BA085, MG076, PR053, Roxo Macapá, SE016 e AL018.

The maize genebank (GBmaize) preserves nearly 4,000 accessions for conservation and use. The use is however restricted because the accessions do not perform as well as the elite genotypes. This problem can be reduced by pre-breeding, i.e., by extending the information on germplasm and introgressing useful alleles. Since irregular rainfall distribution and drought induce maize yield losses, drought tolerance is a main breeding target. In this study, the GBmaize accessions were evaluated for drought tolerance. Environmental factors, genotypes and the respective interactions influence the phenotypic expression. There was however no interaction genotype - irrigation level, so no accessions with different performance under the two water regimes could be identified. The performance of the following accessions was promising for a number of traits: SP154, BA166, MG099, CE002, SE025, BA154, BA194, BA085, MG076, PR053, Roxo Macapá, SE016, and AL018.

Deficiência hídrica é considerada a maior restrição na produção e estabilidade da produtividade de culturas em muitas regiões do mundo. No Estado de Goiás, região na qual predomina a produção em sequeiro, para a cultura do milho (Zea mays L.) implantada na safra normal e na safrinha, é comum sofrer períodos de estresse por deficiência hídrica intermitente ou terminal, que reduzem o rendimento de grãos. No processo de desenvolvimento de novos híbridos e variedades cultivadas, genótipos são selecionados em função de sua adaptabilidade em um determinado ambiente alvo. Assim, programas de melhoramento vegetal, com o objetivo de desenvolver híbridos e variedades cultivadas mais adaptados a um determinado ambiente, requerem informações sob a probabilidade de ocorrência dos diferentes tipos de deficiência hídrica, como também, suas características, intensidade e tempo, em função da fase fenológica da cultura. Um modelo de simulação de culturas foi utilizado para determinar os padrões de deficiência hídrica no estado de Goiás, considerando 12 locais e 6 diferentes datas de semeadura para a cultura do milho semeada na safra normal e na safrinha. Para a cultura do milho semeado na safra normal, a perda na produtividade decorrente do estresse por deficiência hídrica foi menor que 50%, sendo que os tipos de deficiência hídrica que provocam um maior impacto na produtividade iniciam-se no começo do período reprodutivo. Para o milho semeado na safrinha, a perda na produtividade é superior a 50%, sendo mais comum o estresse terminal, que tem sua maior intensidade no enchimento de grãos.

Water stress is a major constraint to crop production and yield stability in many regions of the world. The cultivation of corn (Zea mays L.) in the Brazilian State of Goiás, is frequent affected by periods of water stress resulting in yield reduction. During the process of developing new hybrids and cultivated varieties, new genotypes are selected based on their adaptability for a certain environment. In this context, plant breeding programs demand for information regarding as a function of the crop phenological phases. A crop simulation model was used to determine patterns of water stress for 12 locations of the State of Goiás and 6 different sowing for both, first and second corn harvest periods. For the first harvest period, yield loss due to water stress was lower than 50%, with higher effects on yield in the beginning of the reproductive period. For corn as a second crop, yield loss is higher than 50% with frequent occurrence of terminal stress, which presented higher intensity during the stage of grain filling.