The experiment was performed at the campus of Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia - UESB, in Vitória da Conquista, Bahia State, Brazil, from November 2005 to May 2007, aiming to evaluate irrigation management, harvest time and the mepiquat chloride effect on cassava agronomical characteristics. The study used randomized blocks delineation with three replications and sixteen treatments in subdivided lots, using the following combinations: irrigation management (lack and with irrigation during the whole cycle, irrigation from November to April, performed again from November to April of the following year), harvest time (nine, eighteen months) mepiquat chloride (with and without application). The harvest at 18 provided an increase on aerial part weight and on root productivity, showed an increase from 16.89 to 36.73 t ha-1, as well as a high harvest index. Irrigated plants during the whole cycle presented higher tuberous root productivity than the ones kept without irrigation. When irrigated, the plants produced tuberous roots with a higher percentage of dry matter and starch. The use of mepiquat chloride increased both the starch and the flour production of the irrigated plants during the whole cycle.
root starch; productivity of tuberous roots; growth regulator; flour yield
