ZONEAMENTO BIOCLIMÁTICO PARA A PRODUÇÃO DE FRANGOS DE CORTE NO RIO GRANDE DO SUL - BRASIL

Abstract

This study aims to carry out the bioclimatic zoning based on the temperature and humidity index (THI) for the different life stages of broiler production, in different seasons, for the state of Rio Grande do Sul. A study was carried out for forty-two municipalities in the state, for which the hourly ITU was calculated based on temperature and relative humidity data from automatic meteorological stations available on the INMET website (period 2000 to 2020). Once the spatial dependence was detected, the thematic map of the spatial distribution of the average THI was produced by means of ordinary kriging for the four seasons of the year. Bioclimatic zoning allowed dividing the territory into two classes, with most of the state alternating between cold stress and heat stress depending on the weeks of life of the animals, with cold stress prevailing from the first to third week in autumn and winter and by heat in the fifth and sixth week in spring and from the fourth week in summer. The environmental conditions for thermal comfort of broiler chickens occur in most of RS in autumn for the fourth and fifth week, in winter for the fifth and sixth week, in spring for the third and fourth week and in summer for the second and third week week of life.