SUPPLEMENTAL IRRIGATION THE IMBU TREE (Spondias tuberosa Arruda)

The imbu (Spondias tuberosa Arruda) is a native tree of the semi-arid region of the Brazilian Northeast, whose fruit is of great importance for complementing the family income of small farmers. However, its reproductive cycle is still not very well known, especially a function to irrigation supplemental. This work was carried out to help follow the evolution of the reproductive cycle of the imbu, from the emission of the beginning of the floral bud to the ripening of the depending on the application of irrigation. This work was carried the Caatinga Experimental Station, Semiarid Embrapa of 8 plants. In each plant, 100 branches were randomly chosen from different parts of the crown and labelled for phenological data annotation. In the data obtained were determined averages standard deviations and coefficients of variation. The application of supplemental irrigation in imbuzeiro plants can significantly contribute to increase in fruit production.