Abstract
ABSTRACT Intercropping system and the use of green manure with spontaneous species has been an alternative farming method applied to the productive sector of vegetables in the northeastern semi-arid region. The objective of this work was to determine which amount of Calotropis procera must be incorporated into the soil to provide the highest productive performance of the component crops and increase the profitability of the carrot and cowpea intercropping. The experimental design used was randomized complete blocks with five replicates. The treatments consisted of four amounts of C. procera incorporated into the soil: 10, 25, 40 and 55 t ha-1 on a dry basis. The characteristics evaluated in this intercropping system were: commercial productivity of carrot roots, yield of cowpea green grains, land equivalent ratios for component crops and for the intercropped system, score of the canonical variable of the association, and the economic indicators of gross income, net income, rate of return, and net profit margin. The maximum agronomic efficiency of the carrot x cowpea intercropping was reached at the land equivalent ratio of 1.12, using 43.39 t ha-1 of C. procera biomass incorporated in the soil, while the maximum economic efficiency of the carrot and cowpea crops association was obtained at the net income of R$ 17,856.43 ha-1, in the amount of 40.60 t ha-1 of C. procera biomass added to the soil.
Highlights
Carrot (Daucus carota L.) intercropping with cowpea [(Vigna unguiculata L. (Walp)] is beginning to be implemented in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, and there is almost no information about the viability and profitability of this cultivation system nor information about the post-harvest quality of the products of the component cultures
This legume is consumed in the form of a green pod, where its green grains, called green beans, are the raw material for a range of regional dishes, as well as being used as green manure (SANTOS et al, 2009)
The optimization of the commercial productivity of carrot roots in intercropping with cowpea of 17.31 t ha-1 was obtained with the incorporation of 48.05 t ha-1 of C. procera, while the optimization of green grain yield of cowpea intercropped with carrot of 1293.99 kg ha-1 was reached with the approximate amount of 45.51 t ha-1 of the green manure added to the soil
Summary
Carrot (Daucus carota L.) intercropping with cowpea [(Vigna unguiculata L. (Walp)] is beginning to be implemented in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, and there is almost no information about the viability and profitability of this cultivation system nor information about the post-harvest quality of the products of the component cultures. (Walp)] is beginning to be implemented in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, and there is almost no information about the viability and profitability of this cultivation system nor information about the post-harvest quality of the products of the component cultures It is known, that intercropping reduces the use of agricultural inputs, establishes a greater dynamism in the agrosystem, increases yields of crops, and contributes to an improved regularity of the food supply (RUSINAMHODZI et al, 2012). The cowpea is one of the main legumes of economic value cultivated in the northeastern semi-arid region that can complement the carrot culture, of high economic and nutritional value in an intercropping system, since it has an architecture and radicular system different from the carrot This legume is consumed in the form of a green pod, where its green grains, called green beans, are the raw material for a range of regional dishes, as well as being used as green manure (SANTOS et al, 2009). When grown for consumption as fresh grains it is treated as a vegetable, it is called cowpea-vegetable (COSTA et al, 2017)
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