Carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has been increasing since the industrial revolution. Nowadays it is approximately 365 mmol mol-1, with a tendency to increase. The effect of CO2 dosis, supplied by drip irrigation on lettuce development, plants growth, photosynthesis and productivity, and also the effects on electrical conductivity were evaluated. The experiment was conduced under plastic tunnels in a completely randomized block design. The treatments included CO2 rates: 0 (control), 52; 155 and 310 kg ha-1. Water was delivered daily to plants in order to replace lost volumes by evapotranspiration, based on estimates from class A evaporation pan, corrected by the crop and tank coefficients (Kc and Kp, respectively). The CO2 use, via irrigation water, changed the leaves number and the shoot dry weight, but not the leaf area index and the fresh dry weight. The monthly use of 153 kg ha-1 of CO2, via irrigation water, is proper for lettuce since it increased the productivity in 20.5% when compared to the control.
Lactuca sativa L.; carbon dioxid; irrigation; fertigation; dry mass
