Water requirement estimate for the reproductive period of mango orchads in the northeast of the state of Pará, Brasil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the water consumption in mango orchard during its phenological stages in the northeastern of the State of Pará, Brazil. For this purpose, it was installed and instrumented a micrometeorological tower in a mango orchard, cv. Tommy Atkins, of 22 years old, with data collected during the crops of 2010/2011 and of 2011/2012. The actual crop evapotranspiration was estimated from the energy balance using the Bowen ratio technique. The crops were subjected to different weather conditions, consequently, some differences in the Bowen ration values were observed. The evapotranspiration suffered influences of meteorological conditions during the period. The actual crop evapotranspiration during its reproductive period ranged between 402.9 and 420 mm with a mean daily water consumption of 3.8 mm at flowering, of 4.25 mm at fruit fall, of 3.56 mm at fruit formation, of 3.0 mm at fruit maturation and of 3.73 mm for the whole period.