EFFICIENT SYSTEM FOR LETTUCE PRODUCTION (Lactuca sativa L.)

Abstract

The growth of urban areas has brought with it a decrease of arable land, affecting directly the global yield of agricultural production. In face of this situation, there is an attempt to resort to alternatives that promote access to foods with an approach of food security. A production strategy was developed taking into account climate control and the Nutrient Film Technique (NFT), to take advantage of non-arable surfaces through the traditional method for lettuce production (Lactuca sativa L.), establishing the treatments under greenhouse-NFT system (T1), and NFT system on the open field (T2); the effect of temperature on the length and width of the leaves, chlorophyll content, and fresh weight of the lettuce was evaluated. Significant differences were found (P?0.05) between treatments for all the variables evaluated, except for the chlorophyll content. The combination of climate control and the hydroponics cultivation system allowed obtaining average yields of 59 t ha^-1 and 46 t ha^-1 for T1 and T2, respectively, values higher than the national yield in the traditional cultivation of 38.82 t ha^-1.