ABSTRACT The plant water potential and the leaf temperature are physiological responses of the coffee tree that can be used as indicative of the irrigation management of this crop. There is a dependence between the leaf water potential with the potential matrix of the soil solution, however, the water potential levels found for the coffee tree show divergent relationships in the literature regarding the matrix potential. The objective of this study is to verify the water potential and leaf surface temperature in the coffee tree when submitted to different irrigation levels. The study was conducted in Piracicaba, SP, Brazil, using Coffea arabica species from Red Catuaí IAC 144 variety, the drip irrigation system was adopted and the management done by tensiometry. The relationships among these physiological responses and the treatments of actions presented high determination coefficients (R2 of 0.84, 0.90 and 0.65 for the leaf water potential, leaf temperature measured with the portable infrared sensor and the thermal camera respectively). The estimated values for leaf water potential were −0.23, −0.56, −0.89 and −1.22 MPa for irrigation treatments L130%, L100%, L70% and L40%, respectively. The calculated leaf temperature values were 31.7, 32.4, 33.0 and 33.7°C in average, for treatments L130%, L100%, L70% and L40% in proper order.

ABSTRACT: In Brazil, the conventional center pivot is widely used for irrigation of agricultural crops and its use has grown continuously. However, when improperly managed, it facilitates the development of diseases in all parts of the plant, with a direct effect on productivity, besides favoring losses of water by evaporation. The drip may be an alternative, since it minimizes the losses and does not wet the aerial parts of the plants, thereby reducing the incidence of diseases. A new system called localized mobile drip irrigation (IRGMO) is being developed in an attempt to combine the practicality and rusticity of the center pivot with the efficiency and water savings of the dripping irrigation systems. This fusion system is the central pivot with drip irrigation system for water distribution in the soil surface. This study aims to present a calculation methodology for the design of IRGMO system and compare it with conventional systems. It is concluded that this methodology allows the design of the IRGMO and that this new technology allows a savings of approximately 99% in a number of drip tubes compared to the conventional system with fixed drip irrigation lines in the field.

ABSTRACT The tariff flags on Brazil came into force in January 2015, applied to all electrical distribution agents of the national interconnected system (SIN) and all final consumers are being charged for this new model. Given this, the cost of electricity in irrigation suffered representative additions involving searches of alternatives, such as the use of diesel engines. This study aimed to analyze the costs and the total annual costs of pumping with diesel and electric operation in 3 regions of Brazil, considering the application of the tariff flags. We concluded that the Southeast region (SE) features an hourly cost of electricity above the Central-West (CO) and the Northeast (NE) regions at any adopted tariff, regardless of the time of pumping and the use of diesel engines in irrigation is feasible in terms of distances from the electrical grid that can range from 2.8 to 72.4 km, the first being the most favorable condition in the Southeast with the operation of 4 months per year with fertirrigation, in conventional tariff and red flag is the less favorable in the Northeast with 10 months/year operation with/without fertirrigation, in bohemia blue and green flag tariff.