PROFITABILITY OF ORGANIC PASSION FRUIT PRODUCTION USING TALL SEEDLINGS AND LONG ROOT SYSTEM

Abstract

ABSTRACT Passion fruit productivity in the state of Acre is lower than the national average, influenced by several factors, among them water stress in rainfed cultivation. Thus, aiming at alternatives for the drought period, this study aimed to evaluate the economic profitability of the use of tall seedlings and long root system in the cultivation of organic yellow passion fruit. Five root lengths were evaluated: 25 cm; 50 cm; 75 cm; 100 cm and 125 cm in a randomized block design, with four blocks and four plants per plot. The experiment was carried out in the municipality of Rio Branco, state of Acre, at the “Seridó” Ecological Site from November 2015 to July 2017. For economic analysis, all fixed and varied costs such as seed production, orchard planting, crop management, phytosanitary control, harvesting and capital depreciation were considered. Analysis of variance and regression analysis were performed for productivity and economic indicators. Plants with root system with estimated length of 1.14 m promote higher fruit yield (7,613 kg ha-1), net revenue of R$ 17,665.44 ha-1, benefit/cost ratio of 2.5, profitability of 177.5%, remunerating the family labor with R$ 211.75 day-1. However, all treatments proved to be profitable.