Irrigation is a technique of water supply frequently used for potato production in the southern Minas ge0rais state, Brazil, since the rainfall occurrence and the crop demand for water do not always match. The search for improving the water use efficiency leads to the adoption of localized irrigation systems, such as drip irrigation. A manage0ment program combined with this kind of irrigation system results in increasing the crop water use efficiency, raising the ratio volume or weight produced per consumed water unit. So, in this work, we evaluated the effect of different irrigation water depths and regimes on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of potato (cv. Ágata), grown in the field, from May to September 2007, in the municipality of São Gonçalo do Sapucaí. The experiment was carried out under a statistical design of random blocks, on a split-plot scheme, with four replications. The treatments in the plots referred to three irrigation frequencies: 2, 4 and 6 days (F2, F4, F6), and the treatments in the subplots referred to four irrigation water depths, proportional to the total irrigation needed (ITN): L1: 0.75 ITN; L2: 1,00 ITN; L3: 1.25 ITN and L4: 1.50 ITN. The evaluated results were the total tuber yield, the big tubers yield, and the small tubers yield. The average0 total evapotranspiration range0d from 163.5 to 172.7 mm. The lower irrigation levels were applied to the treatment L2: 156, 153.1 and 140.6 mm, and the highest ones were applied to L4: 177.9, 188.5 and 188 mm, for the irrigation frequencies of F2, F4 and F6 days, respectively. The average0 yields of total tubers and big tubers were 61 and 50.3 t ha-1, respectively, without satisfactory adjustments for the regression models used. The water use efficiency value (UEA) was higher for the combination F4 x L4 (about 40.08 kg of tuber/m³ of consumed water), and lower for F4 x L2 (28.65 kg/m³ of consumed water).
Solanum tuberosum; evapotranspiration; efficiency
