Estimation of productivity gain by irrigated and fertilized forage palm plants (opuntia ficus-indica (l.) mill. and nopalea cochenillifera (l.) salm-dyck): Systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Population expansion increases the water use for food production, which has stimulated farmers to cultivate vegetable with improved water use efficiency. The purpose of this meta-analysis study was to estimate the productivity gain of irrigated and fertilized forage palm plants (Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. and Nopalea cochenillifera (L.) Salm-Dyck) compared to non-irrigated ones. A systematic review was done and productivity average, tendency and dispersion measures were carried out from a search carried out between October 23 and 27, 2017, without any restriction of date and location and use of filters. Data were submitted to normality, hierarchical grouping, and meta-analysis tests. It has been observed that irrigated forage palm plant presents an increasing production of 53.54 t ha-1 year-1 when compared to non-irrigated and 80.25 t ha-1 year-1, with higher irrigation levels, and 26.83 t ha-1 year-1 with smaller water levels, with the possibility of even higher yields, especially in semiarid regions.