CHERRY TOMATO CULTIVATION UNDER DIFFERENT LEVELS OF IRRIGATION WATER SALINITY AND ROOT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The use of saline water is a challenge of modern agriculture since the use of this type water reduces crop quality and yield. From this perspective, this study aimed to analyze the performance of cherry tomato under different levels of irrigation water salinity and partial root-zone irrigation. The experiment was conducted in a plant nursery at the Engineering and Agricultural Sciences Campus of the Federal University of Alagoas, in Rio Largo, Alagoas, Brazil. The experimental design was completely randomized, in a 4 x 2 factorial arrangement corresponding to four levels of irrigation water salinity (0.5 (control), 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 dS m-¹) and two root management systems (with and without root system division), with five replications. The plants were evaluated for growth, dry mass accumulation, and yield. The irrigation water salinity of 3.5 dS m-1 intensely reduces the plant height, number of fruits, and shoot dry mass of cherry tomato. The shoot fresh mass of cherry tomato was reduced by with root system division. However, this treatment increased the plant height and the number of fruits per plant. Root system division in cherry tomato plants mitigates the deleterious effects of irrigation water salinity up to the electrical conductivity of 1.5 dS m-1, especially on the fruit mass per plant.