This study evaluated the influence of different irrigation levels on the growth of the banana crop cv. Grande Naine. The experiment was conducted in the experimental field of the Centro Nacional de Pesquisa Mandioca e Fruticultura. A randomized block design was used with six levels of irrigation and eight replications. The irrigation L1 corresponded to rain. The irrigation L6 was determined using the Kc and ETo. The other irrigation levels were determined by the formula NH = K x AF x ETo, where NH is the water requirement of the crop (L plant-1), K (empirical coefficient of plant transpiration), AF - leaf area (m² plant-1) and ETo - reference evapotranspiration (mm). The parameters evaluated were: plant height, pseudostem circumference, leaf area, alive leaf number and duration of the crop cycle. The growth of cv. Grande Naine was influenced by irrigation, it is possible to estimate the water requirement of the banana crop, based on knowledge of leaf area and ETo. The best crop growth was obtained with a transpiration coefficient of 0.57 and irrigation depth estimated in 1247 mm.
Musa spp.; water management; transpiration
