Economic Feasibility of Lettuce Intercropped With Rocket in Function of Spacing and Growing Season

Abstract

Intercropping is a production system that can reduce the production cost and increase the profitability of vegetable producers, since it permits more efficient land and agricultural inputs use. In order to evaluate the effect of lettuce plant density on the economic feasibility of lettuce-rocket intercropping system over two growing seasons (winter and summer), two experiments were conducted in the field at São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brazil. The treatments consisted of five lettuce-rocket intercrops with spacing between lettuce rows of: 0.20; 0.25; 0.30; 0.35 and 0.40 m, five sole crop of lettuce in the same spacing between rows adopted in the intercropping system, and a sole cropping of rocket with spacing between rows of 0.20 m. The statistical design adopted was the complete randomized block with four replicates. During winter, higher profitability was achieved with the highest population density. Highest profitability of the crops in both seasons was obtained in summer.

Nitrogen Sources and Doses in Arugula Development

“…In addition, fertilization programs for vegetable production are old and have not kept up with the changes made in the production system and with the introduction of new technologies (Morais et al, 2017). Despite knowing that proper fertilization management is one of the main factors that maximize the productive efficiency of crops, and that unspecific recommendations can lead to insufficient responses in terms of yield and product quality, studies addressing the nutritional management of arugula are scarce, especially with regard to the optimization of nitrogen fertilization, an extremely relevant factor that raises production costs by up to 16.6% (Nascimento, Nascimento, & Cecílio Filho, 2018).…”

Chicory and Arugula in Intercropping With Collard Greens1

“…Leafy vegetables stand out for their varied organoleptic and functional characteristics in the human body (FU et al, 2017). Brazil has a wide variety of leafy vegetables, produced predominantly in conventional systems; however, intercropping systems have been the subject of numerous studies and are demonstrated to be sustainable and profitable enhancers of land use efficiency when adopted by farmers (BARBOSA; MALDONADO JÚNIOR, 2015;NASCIMENTO;NASCIMENTO;CECÍLIO FILHO, 2018, GUIMARÃES et al, 2020. Collard greens, chicory and arugula are some of the main leafy vegetables produced in Brazil (ABSEM, 2016).…”

Doses and Split Nitrogen Fertilizer Applications on the Productivity and Quality of Arugula1

“…As it is a crop with a short cycle, it demands a high concentration of nutrients in a short period. However, so far, studies related to the nutritional management of this crop are scarce, especially regarding methods to increase nitrogen (N) fertilization efficiency, a factor that represents approximately 16.6% of the total operating cost (NASCIMENTO; NASCIMENTO; CECÍLIO FILHO, 2018).…”