Agro-economic responsiveness of radish associations with cowpea in the presence of different amounts of Calotropis procera, spatial arrangements and agricultural crops

Abstract

The integration of research emphasizing sustainable development, employment, income generation and food security has been highlighted in the media. The objective of this research was to evaluate the agro-economic responsiveness of radish associations with cowpea in the presence of different amounts of roostertree, spatial arrangements and agricultural crops. The experimental design was a randomized block design with four replications, with treatments arranged in a 4 x 3 factorial scheme, where the first factor consisted of four amounts of C. procera incorporated in the soil (20, 35, 50 and 65 t ha-1 on a dry basis) and the second factor of three spatial arrangements (2:2, 3:3, and 4:4) in two cropping seasons. Radish samples were evaluated for plant height, dry mass of shoots, total and commercial productivity of roots, productivity of scrap roots, and dry mass of roots, while in cowpea, vegetation was assessed for length of green pods, number of pods per square meter, productivity and dry mass of green pods, number of green grains per pod, weight of 100 green grains, and yield and dry mass of green grains. The economic indicators of monetary advantage and modified monetary advantage were used in the evaluation of efficiency. A greater agro-economic responsiveness of the intercropping of radish and cowpea crops was obtained with the incorporation of 56.44 t ha-1 of C. procera. The spatial arrangements of 3:3 and 4:4 had better agronomic and economic responsiveness. The association between radish and cowpea is feasible when the crops are fertilized with C. procera.

Agro-economic efficiency in radish-arugula intercropping as a function of green manuring and population density

“…Regarding competitive relations, the maximum points found in the respective amounts of green manures and population densities, represent the use of environmental resources, such as water, sunlight and nutrients with maximum efficiency (Nunes, et al, 2018). The maximum point obtained in these indices expresses the exact degree of competitiveness between species by indicating the number of times that the dominant species was more competitive than the dominated species.…”

“…The evaluation of the intercropping economic viability can be performed through indicators based on costs and benefits called economic indicators (Bezerra Neto et al, 2010;Lima et al, 2007;Nunes et al, 2018). These include gross and net incomes, the rate of return, and the profit margin (Lima et al, 2014;Oliveira et al, 2012).…”

Beetroot and radish root yield in organic double-cropping production system

“…Intercropping radish with less competitive species alleviates the effects of strong intraspecific competition for water and nutrients, resulting in higher yield than in sole crops. Beneficial effects of intercropping radish with collard green (Pinheiro et al, 2019), cowpea (Nunes et al, 2018) and other agricultural plants (Yildirim and Guvenc, 2005;Sandler et al, 2015) have been reported.…”

“…In addition to the demanding conversion from conventional to organic production which in most cases implies changes and adjustments in previously well-established agronomic procedures, bureaucratic costs and need for constant education; lower (20%, on average) and less stable yields contribute to the small share of organically maintained crops. Making the production economically feasible is therefore the main prerequisite for its expansion; and necessitates the research on yield stabilization which implies plant species and varieties, cropping systems, as well as agronomic procedures types, methods and times of application (de Ponti et al, 2012;EUROSTAT, 2019;Kawasaki, 2019). Double-cropping is the practice that involves consecutive growing and harvesting two (same or different) crops in the same field during the same season.…”

Agro-economic efficiency of immature cowpea-radish intercropping systems in semiarid environment

“…Cowpea and radish are two companion crops of economic and nutritional value that can complement each other in an intercropping system because they have different plant architectures and root systems (Pereira et al, 2016;Chaves et al, 2020). Thus, an intercropping system between these crops has been recognized as a potentially beneficial system of agricultural production, as it increases the total yield of crops per unit of land per unit of time, as well as it increases the diversity of products, reduces the economic risks of the producer, and helps to efficiently and judiciously use the land, labor, and other environmental resources of the rural land (Nunes et al, 2018).…”