Efecto del agua tratada magnéticamente en el desarrollo y la producción de cúrcuma (Curcuma longa L.) Effect of magnetically treated water on the growth and production of curcuma (Curcuma longa L.)

Curcuma longa is a promising crop for the region of Valle del Cauca (Colombia), which demands a high availability of water resources in order to obtain optimum yields. Irrigation is a key factor in achieving such yields; for that reason, one of the more important tasks is to ensure the availability of water throughout the vegetative cycle. With the aim of evaluating new technologies that contribute to the improvement of the production of this crop, this paper examined the effect of magnetically treated water (MTW) on the physiological growth and production of C. longa. For the water stimulation, two magnetizers, installed in series within a recirculation circuit, were used. Three exposure times to the magnetic field were used (10, 15 and 30 min), along with a recirculated control treatment without magnetrons and an absolute control treatment without recirculation. The experiment design was completely randomized with one factor. The magnetization system was attached to a drip irrigation system; the treatments were applied for three months to C. longa plants under greenhouse conditions. The results showed that the recirculation time of MTW for 30 min with a magnetic induction of 156 mT resulted in a statistically significant increase in the length of the plants, the number of rhizomes, the number of tillers, the fresh weight and the dry weight, higher than that of the other treatments. According to these results, the application of magnetized water could be regarded as a promising agro-environmental technology that improves crop yield in C. longa. INTRODUCCION Additional keywords: bio-magnetism, agro-environmental technology, magnetic field. Fecha de recepcion: 21-11-2015 Aprobado para publicacion: 14-05-2016 La dependencia de fertilizantes de sintesis quimica para la produccion agricola competitiva es una de las mayores dificultades que enfrenta la agricultura convencional. Segun el documento Conpes 3577 (2009), se acepta que los fertilizantes son un componente importante en los costos de produccion de la actividad agropecuaria, afectando directamente el precio de comercializacion de los productos y el margen de ganancia del agricultor. El precio que debe pagar un agricultor por fertilizantes minerales en una zona remota es mucho mas alto que el precio del mercado mundial a causa del transporte, distribucion y otros costos de transaccion asociados (Kotschi, 2015), lo que en muchas ocasiones no se traduce en un mayor valor de compra para el agricultor (Perez, 2014). En este sentido se hace necesario impulsar el desarrollo de tecnologias innovadoras que propicien la disminucion del uso de fertilizantes minerales a la vez que mejoren la eficiencia en el uso del agua de riego y las condiciones del suelo para los cultivos. La tecnologia evaluada en la presente investigacion corresponde al uso del campo magnetico sobre agua de riego. La tecnologia del ATM genera efectos incrementales sobre el crecimiento y desarrollo de las plantas. Esto es debido a que los