Yield of sweet potato as a function of organic fertilization and intercropping with Crotalaria juncea

Abstract

In the northern region of Brazil, information for the sweet potato regarding suitable soil management, especially organic fertilisation and intercropping with species of green manure, are still in the early stages. The aim of this research therefore, was to evaluate the effect of poultry litter on the yield of sweet potato roots grown under a monocrop system and when intercropped with sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea) under the soil and climate conditions of the State of Roraima. The experiment was carried out in the field from August to December of 2014, in the Sector for Olericulture of the School of Agricultural Technology, on the Murupu Campus of UFRR in the town of Boa Vista, Roraima. A randomised block experimental design was used, with three replications, in a (5 × 2) + 1 factorial scheme, representing five doses of poultry litter (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 t ha -1 ), with sweet potato as both a monocrop and intercropped with sunn hemp, and one additional treatment with organic and mineral fertiliser. Slips of the Granfina variety of sweet potato were used for planting. Seeds of sunn hemp were sown in double rows between the rows of sweet potato 30 days after planting the slips, with the first cutting carried out 90 days after sowing. The addition of poultry litter to the soil increased the total production of sweet potato roots for the crop planted in Roraima, whether intercropped or not with sunn hemp. Despite the benefits to sweet-potato yield from the addition of poultry litter and the intercrop with sunn hemp, total productivity was greater in the additional treatment that received organic and mineral fertiliser.Resumo: Na região Norte, as informações para a batata-doce quanto ao manejo adequado do solo, principalmente sobre a fertilização orgânica e o consórcio com espécies de adubos verdes, ainda são incipientes. Neste sentido, objetivou-se com esta pesquisa avaliar o efeito da cama de aviário sobre o rendimento de raízes de batata-doce, cultivada em sistema solteiro e consorciada com Crotalaria juncea, nas condições edafoclimáticas de Roraima. O experimento foi realizado em campo no período de agosto a dezembro de 2014, no setor de Olericultura da Escola Agrotécnica, Campus Murupu-UFRR, município de Boa Vista-RR. O delineamento experimental empregado foi o de blocos casualizados, com três repetições, usando o arranjo fatorial (5 × 2) + 1, referentes a cinco doses de cama de aviário (0; 5; 10; 15 e 20 t ha -1 ), com a batata-doce em monocultivo e consorciada com a crotalária, e um tratamento adicional com adubação orgânica e mineral. No plantio da batata-doce foram utilizadas ramas da variedade Granfina. As sementes de crotalária foram semeadas em linhas duplas nas entrelinhas da batata-doce, aos 30 dias após o plantio das ramas, sendo o seu primeiro corte efetuado 90 dias após sua semeadura. A adição de cama de aviário ao solo elevou a produtividade total de raiz de batata-doce no lavrado de Roraima, independente da ausência ou presença do consórcio com crotalária. Apesar da ação benéfica da adição de cama-d...

Effect of Combined Organic and Inorganic Fertilizer Application on Soil Attributes, Yield and Quality of Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas L.)

“…However, the highest yield value (4.0 t ha -1 ) was registered for the plants fertilized with urea, followed by the treatments with poultry manure, organic compost, and bovine manure, although this yield value is still below the maximum values obtained in the present study. Silva et al (2018b), studying the intercropping of sweet potato with rattlepod and the application of poultry manure (20 t ha -1 ), registered a yield 16 t ha -1 , a similar value to that obtained in the first and second cycles (Figure 2, Table 5).…”