PERFORMANCE OF ‘NANICÃO JANGADA’ BANANA PLANTS INTERCROPPED WITH WINTER COVER CROPS

Ricardo Sfeir De Aguiar,Carmen Silvia Vieira Janeiro Neves,Marcelo Sfeir De Aguiar,Paulo Vicente Contador Zaccheo,Fernando Teixeira De Oliveira

doi:10.1590/0100-29452016729

Ricardo Sfeir De Aguiar, Carmen Silvia Vieira Janeiro Neves + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/0100-29452016729

Copy DOI

Abstract

ABSTRACT The use of cover crops species may be an important strategy in the pursuit of sustainability of agroecosystems, considering benefits to soil, such as improvements of physical and chemical characteristics, and weed control. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of winter cover crops and other soil managements on chemical soil properties, on the cycle, on the production of the first cycle and on the fruit quality of banana cv. Nanicão Jangada in Andirá – PR, Brazil. The experiment was carried out in a commercial. Planting of banana suckers from the grower area occurred in the first half of March 2011, with a spacing of 2.40 m between rows and 1.90 m between plants. The experiment was designed in randomized blocks with four replications and six plants per plot. The six treatments were: black oat (Avenastrigosa Schreb), forage turnip (Raphanus sativus L. var. oleiferus), consortium of black oat and forage turnip, chicken litter, residues of banana plants, and bare ground. The evaluations were vegetative development and life cycle of banana plants, yield and quality of fruits, soil chemical characterstics, and fresh and dry mass of green manures. The results were submitted to ANOVA (F Test), and Tukey test at 5 % probability. Black oat and black oat with forage turnip consortium were superior in biomass production. Systems of soil management had no effect on the variables, except in the periods between planting and flowering and between planting and harvest, which were shorter in the treatment of soil management with crop residues, longer in the treatment with forage turnip, and intermediate in the other treatments.

Highlights

The use of cover crops species may be an important strategy in the pursuit of sustainability of agroecosystems, considering benefits to soil, such as improvements of physical and chemical characteristics, and weed control
According to United Nations data for Food and Agriculture (FAO), India is the largest producer of banana (FAO, 2013), and Brazil ranks fifth in the ranking with 485,075 ha of area, and production of 6,892,622 t in the 2013 harvest (IBGE, 2015)
Samples of soil were taken at 0-20 cm depth for chemical analysis, which revealed the following values: pH in CaCl2, 5.3; organic matter, 21.5 g dm-3; phosphorus, 9.9 mg dm-3; potassium, 7.1 mmol dm-3; calcium, 44 mmol dm-3; and magnesium, 11.4 mmol dm-3; and base saturation corrected to 70% with the application of 2 t ha-1 of limestone

Summary

Introduction

The use of cover crops species may be an important strategy in the pursuit of sustainability of agroecosystems, considering benefits to soil, such as improvements of physical and chemical characteristics, and weed control. The reduction of yield with time in banana plantations is common as a consequence, in medium and long term, of physical and chemical limitations of soil and the rapid degradation of the root system by the action of phytosanitary problems in the soil, such as nematodes and fungi (DOREL, 1993). Because of these limitations, several initiatives are being studied to minimize the agronomic and environmental losses, highlighting the improvement and genetic modification in some crops, and the use of cover crops (Silva et al , 2006)

Objectives

Methods

Results