Influence of different irrigation in the early growth of Jatropha

We performed this study with the objective to evaluate the effects of different irrigation levels on plant growth of Jatropha curcas L. The treatments consisted of five irrigation defined from tank class A evaporation (ECA): L1 = 50% ECA, L2 = 75% ECA, L3 = 100% ECA, L4 = 125% ECA and L5 = 150% ECA in randomized complete block design with three replications. We evaluated the plant stem height, stem diameter, stem absolute growth rate, absolute growth rate in stem diameter and absolute growth rate in the fresh epigeal 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 days after pruning uniformity of the plants. The growth parameters studied were only significant source of variation for the collection time. Both the stem height and stem diameter had a linear growth behavior during the experiment. The values of growth rates were influenced by some meteorological factors.