The jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) is an oleaginous plant, adapted to the brazilian semiarid conditions, with potentialities to produce biodiesel. Aiming to evaluate its growth and production parameters, an experiment was carried out in drainage lysimeters, between January/2009 and January/2010, in the experimental area of the Academic Unit of Agricultural Engineering of CTRN/UFCG. The effects of the saline irrigation water were studied on the growth and seed yield of jatropha. The treatments consisted of five levels of electrical conductivity of irrigation water (ECw: 0.6; 1.8; 3.0; 4.2 and 5.4 dS m-1), distributed in a completely randomized block design with four replications, being the plot constituted by one plant grown in each lysimeter. The study started on the 210 day up to 360 days after transplanting; at the end of the period, plant height and stem diameter were not significantly affected by salinity of irrigation treatments. On the other hand, the seed production was significantly affected, with the largest quantity produced by plants that received irrigation water with the electrical conductivity of 2.28 dS m-1.
Jatropha curcas L.; irrigation; electrical conductivity
