Soil covering in organic cultivation of onion cultivars

Abstract

Abstract:The soil preparation in horticulture, including organic, is characterized by intense soil tillage, which increases energy costs and unbalanced the environment. The organic system in onion cultivation has shown satisfactory results, however the soil covering use tends to improve the cultivation environment and may result in higher yields. The objective of this work was to evaluate the performance of onion cultivars in organic cultivation under different soil coverages. The experiment was conducted in the period of April to October of 2009, under protected cropping, in the experimental area of the horticulture sector of the Universidade Federal do Acre (UFAC), in Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil. A randomized block design was adopted, in a split-plot arrangement, the plots being comprised of soil coverings: coffee bean husks, grass straw (Brachiaria decumbens); dessicated bamboo leaves (Bambusa spp.) and uncovered soil (control treatment), and the subplots comprised of three onion cultivars (IPA 10, IPA 11 and IPA 12), with four repetitions. The variables analyzed were total bulb yield (t ha -1 ), marketable bulb yield (t ha -1 ), fresh mass of the bulb (g bulb -1 ), classification of the bulbs and loss of mass as a function of storage time. There was no interaction effect between the soil coverings and the cultivars. Cultivars IPA 10 and IPA 11 showed greater agronomic performance of the studied variables. The soil coverings did not affect the yield and average mass of the bulbs under organic cultivation. The three cultivars presented more than approximately 70% of the bulbs in class 2 and a maximum of 5% of unmarketable bulbs. The loss of mass after 49 days of storage was 10% independent of the cultivar or soil covering.Key words: Allium cepa. Organic agriculture. Sustainability.Resumo: O preparo do solo na olericultura, incluindo a orgânica, caracteriza-se por intenso revolvimento do solo, o que aumenta os gastos com energia e desequilibra o ambiente. O cultivo de cebola em sistema orgânico tem mostrado resultados satisfatórios, todavia o uso de cobertura do solo tende a melhorar o ambiente de cultivo, podendo resultar em maior produtividade. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho de cultivares de cebola em cultivo orgânico sob diferentes coberturas do solo. O experimento foi conduzido no período de abril a outubro de 2009, em cultivo protegido, na área experimental do setor de olericultura da Universidade Federal do Acre (UFAC), em Rio Branco, Acre, Brasil. Adotou-se delineamento experimental em blocos casualizados, com arranjo em parcelas subdivididas, sendo as parcelas constituídas pelas coberturas de solo: casca de café, palha de gramínea (Brachiaria decumbens); folha de bambu dessecada (Bambusa spp.) e solo descoberto (tratamento controle), e as subparcelas constituídas pelas três cultivares de cebola (IPA 10, IPA 11 e IPA 12), com quatro repetições. As variáveis analisadas foram produtividade total de bulbos (t ha -1 ), produtividade comercial dos bulbos (t ha -1 ), massa fresca do bulbo (g b...

Biological Effectiveness of Onion Plant Protection Scheme

“…This is primarily due to the fact that the expansion of the areas where bulb onions are grown is not enough. The priority direction in the development of crop production is the introduction of innovative resourcesaving technologies and modern technology when cultivating as bulb onions (Havey, 2018;Jenni, 2014;Peter, 2015;Punit, 2018;Tavella, 2015;Yolando, 2019).…”