An experiment was carried out at an experimental field in Embrapa Semi-arid, Petrolina - PE, during the first semester of 1997, with the objective of evaluating the effect of different irrigation water salinity levels, with and without the soil conditioner Sper Sal (polymaleic acid), on the yield of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.), cv. Early Wonder. The experiment was set up in complete randomized block design, with four replications. Six treatments were tested: water with electrical conductivity of 0.1 (control), 4 and 8 dS/m, and the levels of electrical conductivity cited above plus Sper salt. The size of the plots was 2m². The results obtained showed that the yield varied from 20.2 to 65.4 t/ha, respectively, for irrigation treatments of saline with Sper Sal and water from the São Francisco river. There was no significant difference in productivity when water with salinity levels of 4 and 8 dS/m were used, with yields of 29.4 and 26.3 t/ha, respectively. In the treatments with soil conditioner Sper Sal, it was found that at a saline concentration of 4 dS/m, the product was more efficient than at the concentration of 8 dS/m.
Beta vulgaris L.; Irrigation
