Consórcio palma-sorgo irrigado com diferentes lâminas de água no Semiárido brasileiro

The objective of this work was to evaluate the productive performance, biological efficiency, and the competitive ability of the forage cactus-sorghum intercropping under different irrigation depths with saline water in the Brazilian Semiarid Region. The experiment was carried out in Serra Talhada, in the state of Pernambuco, between 2014 and 2015, in a randomized complete block design, with four replicates, and a 5x3 factorial arrangement in split plots, with one year of forage cactus cycle and two years of sorghum cycles. The plots were composed by four irrigation water depths based on the fractions of 25, 50, 75, and 100% of the reference evapotranspiration, besides dry conditions; and the subplots consisted of three cropping systems (single crop of forage cactus, single crop of sorghum, and intercropping of forage cactus-sorghum). The increase of water irrigation depths increased the yields of sorghum in single crop and of the forage cactus-sorghum intercropping. The intercropping system promoted production stability with a higher system productivity index (SPI) for forage cactus-sorghum intercropping (6,279.02 kg ha-1 DM) than for forage cactus in single crop (4,626.98 kg ha-1 DM). The relative density coefficient (12.33) was indicative of the great compatibility of the intercropping system. The forage cactus-sorghum association shows biological advantage and competitiveness capacity, with a higher productive index than their monocultures.O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho produtivo, a eficiência biológica e a habilidade competitiva do consórcio palma-sorgo sob irrigação com diferentes lâminas de água salina, no Semiárido brasileiro. O experimento foi realizado em Serra Talhada, PE, entre 2014 e 2015, em delineamento de blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições, em arranjo fatorial 5x3, com parcelas subdivididas, tendo sido um ano de ciclo de palma e dois ciclos de sorgo. As parcelas foram compostas por quatro lâminas de irrigação com base nas frações de 25, 50, 75 e 100% da evapotranspiração de referência, além das condições de sequeiro, e as subparcelas consistiram de três sistemas de plantio (palma solteira, sorgo solteiro e consórcio palma-sorgo). O aumento das lâminas de água incrementou a produtividade do sorgo e do consórcio palma-sorgo. O consórcio promoveu estabilidade na produção, com índice de produtividade do sistema (IPS) palma-sorgo (6.279,02 kg ha-1 MS) maior que o de palma em cultivo solteiro (4.626,98 kg ha-1 MS). O coeficiente de adensamento relativo (12,33) foi indicativo de ótima compatibilidade do consórcio. A associação palma-sorgo apresenta vantagem biológica e capacidade competitiva com maior índice produtivo que os dos seus monocultivos

Forage cactus-sorghum intercropping at different irrigation water depths in the Brazilian Semiarid Region

<div><p>Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the productive performance, biological efficiency, and the competitive ability of the forage cactus-sorghum intercropping under different irrigation depths with saline water in the Brazilian Semiarid Region. The experiment was carried out in Serra Talhada, in the state of Pernambuco, between 2014 and 2015, in a randomized complete block design, with four replicates, and a 5x3 factorial arrangement in split plots, with one year of forage cactus cycle and two years of sorghum cycles. The plots were composed by four irrigation water depths based on the fractions of 25, 50, 75, and 100% of the reference evapotranspiration, besides dry conditions; and the subplots consisted of three cropping systems (single crop of forage cactus, single crop of sorghum, and intercropping of forage cactus-sorghum). The increase of water irrigation depths increased the yields of sorghum in single crop and of the forage cactus-sorghum intercropping. The intercropping system promoted production stability with a higher system productivity index (SPI) for forage cactus-sorghum intercropping (6,279.02 kg ha-1 DM) than for forage cactus in single crop (4,626.98 kg ha-1 DM). The relative density coefficient (12.33) was indicative of the great compatibility of the intercropping system. The forage cactus-sorghum association shows biological advantage and competitiveness capacity, with a higher productive index than their monocultures.</p></div