Crescimento e produtividade de milho-verde em diferentes arranjos com adubo-verde

Abstract

Green corn (Zea mays L.) is a vegetable crop of high socioeconomic importance for family farming. This research aimed to evaluate the agronomic and productive performance the green corn and dwarf mucuna (Mucuna deeringiana var. dwarf) in different arrangements. The experiment was conducted at the Agroecology and Organic Production Studies Center (NEAPO) of the State University of Maranhão (UEMA), in São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil in in randomized blocks, with four replications and the treatments: T1 – weeded green corn (MC); T2 – green corn with spontaneous vegetation (MVE); T3 – green corn intercropped with dwarf mucuna in the corn row (MML); T4 – green corn intercropped with dwarf mucuna in the inter-row (MME); and T5 – green corn intercropped with dwarf mucuna in both the row and inter-row (MMLE). Treatment MC was used as the control for agronomic and yield variables, while MVE served as the control for comparison of dry matter mass of spontaneous vegetation and dwarf mucuna. The performance of the green manure was evaluated by dry matter accumulation. The variables analyzed for green corn were plant height, ear insertion height, stalk diameter, length of husked and unhusked ears, diameter of husked and unhusked ears, total yield of husked ears, yield of husked and unhusked marketable ears, number of marketable ears, and index of marketable ears per plant. The highest dry matter values were observed in the spontaneous vegetation in the green corn and spontaneous vegetation (MVE) treatment with 2,146 kg/ha, and the lowest in dwarf mucuna, ranging from 872 to 1351.5 kg/ha. The largest stalk diameter (2.2 cm) was observed in the weeded corn (CM) treatment. The greatest plant heights occurred in all treatments except for green corn and spontaneous vegetation. The greatest ear insertion heights (AIE) were recorded in the MC (72 cm), MML (66 cm), and MMLE (68 cm) treatments. The highest values for husked and unhusked ear diameter, and husked and unhusked ear length were observed in the MC, MML, and MMLE treatments. The values for husked and unhusked ear diameter in these treatments ranged from 4.0 to 3.3 cm and 3.2 to 2.7 cm, respectively; for husked and unhusked ear length, they ranged from 21 to 16 cm and from 15 to 11 cm, respectively. Weeded green corn (MC) was superior to all treatments for total yield of husked ears and yield of marketable husked ears, with 7,173 and 6,157 kg/ha, respectively. For the weight of husked ears, only the MVE treatment showed low values (1,176 kg/ha). The treatments weeded green corn (MC), green corn and dwarf mucuna in the row (MML), and green corn and dwarf mucuna in the row and between rows (MMLE) showed the highest values for the number of marketable green corn ears and marketable ear index per plant, ranging from 20,139 to 17,708 kg/ha and 0.80 to 0.70, respectively. The arrangement of dwarf mucuna in the planting row and positioned in the row and between rows of corn favors the agronomic and productive performance of the crop, showing promise for agroecological systems.