Irrigation with brackish water in the production of maize intercropped with peanut

  • Geovana Ferreira Goes Departamento de Engenharia Agrícola. Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Rua Campus do Pici, s/n, Campus do Pici, Bloco 804, CEP 60440-554, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
  • Geocleber Gomes de Sousa Instituto de Desenvolvimento rural. Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira (UNILAB), Avenida da Abolição, n° 3, CEP: 62790-000, Redenção, CE, Brazil.
  • Jonnathan Richeds da Silva Sales Departamento de Engenharia Agrícola. Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Rua Campus do Pici, s/n, Campus do Pici, Bloco 804, CEP 60440-554, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
  • Paula Ingrid Maia Machado Departamento de Ciências do solo. Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Rua Campus do Pici, s/n, Campus do Pici, Bloco 807, CEP 60440-554, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
  • Kleiton Rocha Saraiva Departamento de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão. Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Piauí (IFPI), Avenida Raimundo Doca da Silva, s/n, CEP: 64280-000, Campo Maior, PI, Brazil.
  • Alexandre Reuber Almeida da Silva Departamento de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão. Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Ceará (IFCE), Campus Iguatu, Rodovia Iguatu / Várzea Alegre, km 05, s/n, CEP: 63503-790, Iguatu, CE, Brazil.
  • Kelly Nascimento Leite Centro multidisciplinar. Universidade Federal do Acre (UFAC), Rua Estrada da Canela Fina, km 12, CEP: 69895-000, Cruzeiro do Sul, AC, Brazil.
  • Antônio Alisson Fernandes Simplício Departamento de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão. Instituto Federal do Maranhão (IFMA), Povoado Poraquê, s/n, Zona Rural, CEP: 65400-000, Codó, MA, Brazil.
  • Fernando Bezerra Lopes Departamento de Engenharia Agrícola. Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Rua Campus do Pici, s/n, Campus do Pici, Bloco 804, CEP 60440-554, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
  • Andreza Melo Mendonça Departamento de Fitotecnia. Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Rua Campus do Pici, s/n, Campus do Pici, Bloco 805, CEP 60440-554, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4136/ambi-agua.3067

Abstract

Integrating agricultural species with different tolerance levels to saline stress may be a promising strategy for biosaline agriculture. This study evaluates the agronomic performance of maize crops irrigated with brackish water and produced in a system integrated with peanut crops and monoculture. The experimental design used was randomized blocks arranged in a 5×2 factorial scheme with four blocks. The first factor corresponded to five levels of electrical conductivity of irrigation water: 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 dS m-1, and the second factor comprised two maize crop production systems: monoculture and integrated. The following variables were determined: ear length (EL, cm), ear diameter (ED, mm), unhusked ear mass (UEM, g) and husked ear mass (HEM, g), ear yield (Y, kg ha-1), and water use efficiency (WUE, kg m-3). Maize production in the monoculture system irrigated with water with a salinity of 1.0 dS m-¹ was superior to the intercropping with peanuts in all variables analyzed. Saline stress caused by the increased electrical conductivity of irrigation water reduced productivity performance and water-use efficiency in maize crops, with significant severity in the monoculture system. Using the intercropping production system between maize and peanut crops is a promising alternative for cultivating these species in environments affected by salts, a strategy indicated for biosaline agriculture.

Keywords: Arachis hypogaea L., biosaline agriculture, cultivation systems, Zea mays L.


Published
11/07/2025
Issue
Vol. 20 (2025)
Section
Papers

Authors maintain the copyrights for their work. However, they grant rights of first publication to Ambiente e Agua - An Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Science. In compensation, the journal can transfer the copyrights, allowing non-commercial use of the article including the right of sending the article to other data bases or publication media. The journal uses the CC BY 4.0 license"