Abstract
ABSTRACT Intercropping systems of beet and green cowpea are beginning to be implemented in the northeastern semi-arid region in Brazil. The great challenge is to know if there is agro-economic efficiency in these systems when fertilized with organic matter produced by spontaneous species of the Caatinga biome. Thus, the objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of green manuring using different amounts of hairy woodrose (Merremia aegyptia) in the association of beet with green cowpea under the semi-arid conditions. The experiment was carried out at the Rafael Fernandes Experimental Farm, rural area of Mossoró, RN, Brazil, in the period of September-December 2015, in a randomized complete block design with four treatments and five replicates. The treatments consisted of hairy woodrose amounts incorporated into the soil (10, 25, 40, 55 t ha-1 on a dry basis). The cultivars of beet and green cowpea planted were ‘Early Wonder’ and ‘BRS Itaim’, recommended for the semi-arid conditions of the Brazilian Northeast. The best agro-economic performance for intercropping system of beet and green cowpea was obtained with 55 t ha-1 of hairy woodrose incorporated in the soil. The use of the hairy woodrose species as green manure is agronomically viable in intercropped systems with beet and green cowpea.
Highlights
The yield of extra and scrap roots of beet decreased with the increase in the amounts of hairy woodrose incorporated to the soil, and the best results were obtained with the lowest amount of hairy woodrose, 2.98 and 1.64 t ha-1, respectively (Figures 2A and D)
Yield of extra A roots showed increasing performance as a function of the amounts of hairy woodrose incorporated to the soil, and its highest value (2.61 t ha-1) was obtained with the amount of 55 t ha-1 of the green manure (Figure 2B)
The results found for the number of pods per m2, number of grains per pod, yield of green grains and dry matter of grains, equal to 133.19, 8.27, 2.09 and 0.63 t ha-1 at the highest amount of hairy woodrose (55 t ha-1) incorporated to the soil, differed from those found by Pereira et al (2016), who analyzed the productive performance of the intercropping of green cowpea and radish under different amounts of ‘flor-de-seda’ (Calotropis procera) biomass incorporated to the soil, and obtained values of 159.6, 8.5, 3.60 and 1.30 t ha-1, respectively
Summary
Intercropping between vegetables has increased in Northeast Brazil, in agroecological systems, presenting various advantages in the productive, nutritional, economic and environmental aspects (Almeida et al, 2015), and promotes maximization of yield per unit of cultivated area, making better use of natural resources such as soil, water, light and nutrients, besides leading to higher efficiency in the use of labor (Sediyama et al, 2014).In addition, compared with mono cultivation, this practice leads to various advantages, such as vegetative protection of soil against erosion and control of weeds (Devide et al, 2009), besides promoting higher frequency of profits to the small farmer, due to the diversification of products per area planted (Alves et al, 2009).given the various advantages that the intercropping provides to vegetable producers, many studies have been conducted and demonstrated the efficiency of this cultivation system, including those involving the intercropping of coriander x carrot (Fernandes et al, 2011), carrot x green cowpea (Favacho et al, 2017) and lettuce x arugula (Almeida et al, 2015), which reveal an indication of possibilities to verify the efficiency of other associations.one of the factors related to intercropped cultivation and little studied is the fertilization of the crops involved. Intercropping between vegetables has increased in Northeast Brazil, in agroecological systems, presenting various advantages in the productive, nutritional, economic and environmental aspects (Almeida et al, 2015), and promotes maximization of yield per unit of cultivated area, making better use of natural resources such as soil, water, light and nutrients, besides leading to higher efficiency in the use of labor (Sediyama et al, 2014). Compared with mono cultivation, this practice leads to various advantages, such as vegetative protection of soil against erosion and control of weeds (Devide et al, 2009), besides promoting higher frequency of profits to the small farmer, due to the diversification of products per area planted (Alves et al, 2009). The Caatinga biome has various spontaneous species with potential for use in green manuring, including hairy woodrose (Merremia aegyptia L.) (Silva et al, 2011). Bezerra Neto et al (2014), using hairy woodrose as green manure in carrot production, obtained commercial yield of 32.11 t ha-1 with the quantity of 15.54 t ha-1
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