Relative planting times on the production components in sesame/cowpea bean intercropping in organic system

Abstract

Aiming at better land use, small farmers usually plant sesame and cowpea bean intercropped with other crops. The aim of this work was to analyze and quantify the influence of four relative planting times of the cowpea bean in intercropping with sesame from the standpoint of their production components, plant productivity and the index of land equivalent ratio (LER). The field experiment was conducted in a randomized blocks with four treatments and four replicates. The treatments were the sesame and the cowpea bean in intercropping with the cowpea bean planted at the same time, 7, 14 and 21days after than the sesame. A greater part of the production components of both the sesame as well the cowpea bean was affected by the intercropping and significant differences were noted among the treatments in a larger part of the parameters. As the planting of the cowpea bean became more distant from that of the sesame, the yield of the Pedaliaceae increased and the yield of the Fabaceae decreased. The results for LER findings on the other hand suggest that in the sesame/cowpea bean intercropping, when the Fabaceae is planted seven days after the sesame, there is better use of the land and a largest possibility to the producer earning a profit. Index terms:Intercrop, food crops, family farm. RESUMOObjetivando otimizar o uso da terra, pequenos produtores comumente cultivam gergelim e feijão caupi em consórcio com outras culturas. Objetivou-se, com este trabalho,analisar e quantificar a influência de quatro épocas relativas de plantio do feijão caupi no consórcio com o gergelima partir dos componentes de produção, produtividade vegetal e índice de uso eficiente da terra (UET). Um experimento de campo foi conduzido em delineamento de blocos casualizados com 4 tratamentos e 4 repetições. Os tratamentos constaram dos plantios consorciados entre as duas culturas, sendo a Fabaceae plantada no mesmo dia que o gergelim, 7, 14 e 21 dias após a Pedaliaceae. A maior parte dos componentes da produção, tanto do gergelim como do feijão caupi, foi afetada pelo consórcio, tendo sido verificadas diferenças significativas entre os tratamentos para a maior parte das variáveis. Conforme distanciou-se a semeadura do feijão caupi, aumentou-se o rendimento da Pedaliaceae e diminuiu-se o rendimento da Fabaceae. Os resultados encontrados para o UET sugerem que, no consórcio gergelim/feijão caupi, quando a Fabaceae é plantada 7 e 14 dias após o gergelim, há melhor aproveitamento da área e maior possibilidade de ganhos líquidos para o produtor.Termos para indexação: Consórcio, culturas alimentares, agricultura familiar.

Growth and Yield of Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) as Influenced by Population Density of Component Cowpea in a Sesame-cowpea Mixture

“…This implies that planting sesame and cowpea in the mixture is better than planting any of the crops as a sole. The intercropping advantage as observed in this study is consistent with the works of earlier researchers on intercropping involving cowpea and sesame such as: cowpea/ maize [6], cowpea/sesame [7,16,17], and maize/sesame [10].…”

Improving Water Use Efficiency and Economic Benefits of Cropping System Through Intercropping in an Arid Climate

“…As presented in Table 4, the cropping systems had no significant effect on the 1000-seed weight of sesame. Similarly, de Araújo et al (2013) reported no significant difference between the sole and intercropping systems of sesame and cowpea for this trait. Sesame seed yield showed a significant difference under the influence of experimental treatments.…”