This research aimed to evaluate the silvicultural behavior and the yield of different genotypes of physic nut under irrigated conditions in the Semi-arid zone of Pernambuco State. An experiment was carried out at Gabriela Farm, located in the municipality of Santa Maria da Boa Vista-PE, Brazil. The experimental design was a completely randomized block with ten treatments and three replications. Treatments consisted of ten genotypes obtained from a previous selection of the most productive plants of a physic nut collection located in the municipality of Petrolina-PE, Brazil. Plant spacing was 3.0m x 2.0m. Each plant was fertilized with 150g of NPK (formula 06:24:12) at sowing time. The plants were weekly watered by dripping irrigation system. The data at three months after planting were submitted to statistical analysis and the means compared by the test of Duncan at the level of 5% of probability. Genotypes showed good silvicultural behavior at three months age. Although there was not significant difference among genotypes for plant survival (100%), plant height (1.3m) and number of inflorescences per plant (12), it was observed significant difference for number of bifurcations that varied from 3.6 to 5.3 bifurcations per plant. At twelve month evaluation, genotype 2304 was superior to the other genotypes in plant height (2.7m), steam diameter (6.3cm), number of fruit per plant (1,211) and seed production (3,542kg ha-1). It is recommended 2304 genotype for plant breeding research, which can improve seed productivity of J. curcas species.
Euphorbiaceous; Jatropha curcas; oleaginous plants
