EFFECT OF FERTILIZATION WITH NITROGEN, PHOSPHORUS AND POTASSIUM ON GROWTH, YIELD AND FRUIT QUALITY OF PINEAPPLE 'VITORIA'

The pineapple cultivar Vitoria has as main characteristics resistance to fusariosis, absence of spines on leaves, cylindrical fruit shape and white pulp. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of N, P2O5 and K2O levels on "D" leaves development, fruit weight, yield, slip production and quality of fruit - soluble solids (SS) and titratable acidity (TA). The treatments consisted of five levels of N (0, 214, 428, 642 and 856 kg ha(-1)), five levels of P2O5 (0, 75, 150, 225 and 300 kg ha(-1)), and five levels of K2O (0, 150, 300, 450 and 600 kg ha(-1)), arranged in fractional factorial design (1/5) 5(3) in blocks. Increasing doses of N promoted greater vegetative growth of "D" leaves, slip production, fruit development and yield. Yield and fruit weight with crown reached maximum values of 65.0 t ha(-1) with 647 kg ha(-1) of N and 1,247 g with 660 kg ha(-1) of N, respectively. The values of TA (%) and SS increased linearly with the levels of potassium applied, while increasing the levels of nitrogen had the opposite effect. Even with the low availability of P there was no response to this nutrient.