Curu Valley Experimental Farm
Currently, the Center for Agricultural Sciences of the UFC offers a Experimental Farm located in the municipality of Pentecoste for the PostGraduate Program in Agricultural Engineering, the Experimental Farm is in the semiarid of Ceará, within an irrigated perimeter, 115 km away from Fortaleza.
The Experimental Farm covers an area of 823 ha, with a 100 ha systematized and irrigated design, where field research is conducted regarding students’ dissertation and thesis projects, and also some professors research projects.
The systematized plan consists of a main channel with a flow of 1.2 m³.s-1, secondary channels with a flow of 120 L.s-1 and tertiary channels with a flow of 40 L.s-1. Along the main and secondary canals are installed hydraulic structures, such as spillways, Parshall gutters, dissipation and distribution boxes. There are also two underground drainage systems, one consisting of shackled drains with rolled pebble wrap and another consisting of flexible PVC pipes with bidim polyester blanket wrap. The two areas comprise 3 ha, serving as the basis for salinity and drainage research.
The farm has areas with crops as mango, guava, coconut, papaya and banana irrigated by a localized irrigation system and Bubbler System, serving as bases for experiments in the area of irrigation management and evaluation of irrigation systems.
