COVER CROPS CHANGE THE PHYTOSOCIOLOGY OF WEEDS AND THE BANANA YIELD

Jorgiani Ávila,Eduardo Pradi Vendruscolo,Jordana Dias Martins,Sebastião Ferreira Lima,Maria Gabriela Oliveira Andrade

doi:10.32404/rean.v7i1.3349

Abstract

This work aimed to evaluate the phytosociology of weeds and the fruit yield of banana (cv. Tropical) in different soil coverings. The experimental design used was randomized blocks, with eight treatments and three replications. The treatments consisted of sowing of Canavalia ensiformis, Cajanus cajan, Crotalaria juncea, Stylosanthes 'Campo Grande', Crotalaria spectabilis, Sorghum bicolor, and Phaseolus lunatus between the rows of the banana trees. A control treatment was also used without cover crops. Weed phytosociology was evaluated in four treatments. The number of hands per bunch, the number of fruits per hand, the number of fruits per bunch, and the fruit yield were estimated in all treatments. In the phytosociological survey, 23 species were identified, in 13 families, especially Asteraceae and Poaceae families. Compared to the control, the coverage with C. cajan, C. juncea, and C. ensiformis provided a reduction in weed density of 108%, 71.7%, and 14.6%, respectively. C. ensiformis and C. cajan provided the highest yield of banana fruits, with an increase of 51.2% about the control. It is concluded that C. ensiformis and C. juncea provided the most significant suppression of weeds, while C. cajan and C. ensiformis provided the highest fruit yield.

Highlights

With the suppression of weeds, the maintenance of cover plants allows the cycling of nutrients through the accumulation in phytomass, mineralization, and availability of these for crops of economic interest (Almeida and Câmara, 2011)
Among the species used as cover crops, legumes stand out for having a higher capacity to release nutrients in the short term when compared to grass species due to the lower carbon: nitrogen ratio (Acosta et al, 2014)
Only treatments with Canavalia ensiformis, Cajanus cajan, Crotalaria juncea, and the control was considered in the evaluation of phytosociology

Summary

Introduction

Inadequate weed management can cause significant losses in the production components of different species of economic interest, such as corn and crambe (Coelho et al, 2016; Lima et al, 2018), forest species (Eloy et al, 2014; Faria et al, 2018) and vegetables (Guerra et al, 2016; Vendruscolo et al, 2017), resulting in significant economic losses (Vicensi et al, 2011; Vendruscolo et al, 2017). With the suppression of weeds, the maintenance of cover plants allows the cycling of nutrients through the accumulation in phytomass, mineralization, and availability of these for crops of economic interest (Almeida and Câmara, 2011). In this sense, it appears that this technique, studied and applied to annual crops, can be used for fruit production, grown in a consortium between the planting rows (Paulino et al, 2010). Among the species used as cover crops, legumes stand out for having a higher capacity to release nutrients in the short term when compared to grass species due to the lower carbon: nitrogen ratio (Acosta et al, 2014)

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