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One of the great challenges of the beet and cowpea cultivation in crop association is to maintain their productivity as that of their sole counterparts in semi-arid environment. In this context, the objective of this work is to assess whether there is bio-agroeconomic return in associations of beet-cowpea by the optimization of population densities and spatial arrangements of the component crops. Experiments were performed in randomised complete block designs with treatments arranged in a 4 × 3 factorial scheme, with four replications. The first factor was the population densities of cowpea (100, 80, 60, and 40% of the recommended population in single crop - RPSC) in association with beet, and the second factor was the spatial arrangements (2:2, 3:3, and 4:4), formed by beet (B) rows alternating with cowpea (C) rows. The competition and agronomic indices evaluated were aggressiveness, competitive ratio, land equivalent ratio, actual yield loss, intercropping advantage and the productive efficiency index. The economic indicators evaluated were gross income, net income, rate of return and profit margin. High agro-economic efficiency can be obtained in the cultivation of beet and cowpea intercropping when well-managing the factors of production, population densities and spatial arrangement of the component crops. The greatest agro-economic return of the cowpea and beet intercropping was obtained in the population densities of 40 and 100% of RPSC for cowpea and beet, respectively. The 2:2 spatial arrangement between beet and cowpea crops was the one with the best productive performance and higher indicators of economic return. The cowpea was the dominant crop while the beet was dominated.

This work aimed to evaluate the dynamics of agro-economic efficiency in combinations of vegetable cowpea and radish cultivars in strip-intercropping systems through agronomic, economic and competition indices tested by the Hsu test in a semi-arid environment. The experimental design was a completely randomised block with eight treatments and four replications. The treatments consisted of combinations of four cowpea cultivars, BRS Tumucumaque, BRS Cauamé, BRS Guariba, and BRS Itaim, with two radish cultivars, Crimson Gigante and Zapp. In each block, individual plots of these cultivars in single cultivation were planted as additional treatments to obtain the system indices. The indices of agronomic and economic efficiency and of competition evaluated were land equivalent ratio (LER), actual yield loss (AYL), land use efficiency (LUE%), score of the canonical variable (Z), gross income (GI), net income (NI), rate of return (RR), corrected monetary advantage (CMA), competitive ratio (CR) and the aggressivity of radish over cowpea (Ar) and cowpea over radish (Avc). The cowpea cultivar BRS Tumucumaque, when combined with the radish cultivar Zapp, provided the highest agro-economic efficiency of the intercropped system in a semi-arid environment. The complementarity and sustainability of the intercropping systems of cowpea and radish were observed in the results of the Hsu test applied to the indices of agro-economic efficiency and of competition. Radish was the dominant crop.

Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the agro-economic efficiency of immature cowpea-radish intercropping systems in a semiarid environment in Brazil. The experiments were carried out in two cropping seasons, in a randomized complete block design with four replicates. The treatments consisted of a 4x2 factorial arrangement for the combination of four cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) cultivars (BRS Tumucumaque, BRS Cauamé, BRS Guariba, and BRS Itaim) and two radish (Raphanus sativus) cultivars (Crimson Gigante and Zapp). The agro-economic indices - system productivity index (SPI), land equivalent coefficient (LEC), and monetary equivalent ratio (MER) - were obtained using single plots of each cultivar in each block. 'BRS Tumucumaque' and 'BRS Guariba' showed the highest productivity of immature cowpea pods, and 'Crimson Gigante' showed the highest yield of marketable radish roots. The cultivation of either 'BRS Tumucumaque' or 'BRS Guariba' cowpea with 'Crimson Gigante' radish provides a greater agro-economy efficiency and sustainability for immature cowpea-radish intercropping.

ABSTRACT: One of the biggest challenges in intercropping of two or more crops is to maintain their productivity as that of their sole counterparts. In order to obtain sustainable intercropping systems in a semi-arid environment, this study evaluated the agro-economic advantage and sustainability of intercropped systems of carrot and cowpea, optimizing the green manuring and spatial arrangements. Experiments were conducted in the period from July to October 2017 and 2018, using a randomized complete block design with the treatments arranged in a 4 x 3 factorial scheme, with four replications. Treatments included four amounts of M. aegyptia incorporated into the soil (20, 35, 50, and 65 t ha-1 on dry basis) with three spatial arrangements (2:2, 3:3, and 4:4) between the components cultures formed from cowpea rows alternated with carrot rows. The agro-economic advantage indices evaluated in the intercropping systems were: land equivalent ratio (LER), area-time equivalent ratio (ATER), score of the canonical variable (Z), actual yield loss (AYL), intercropping advantage (IA), gross income (GI), net income (NI), rate of return (RR), and profit margin (PM). The highest agro-economic advantages of the carrot and cowpea intercropping were obtained for LER, ATER, NI, and RR of 2.60, 4.16, US$ 8,720.99 ha-1, and US$ 2.21, respectively, for M. aegyptia biomass amounts of 46.42, 47.82, 32.60 and 31.51t ha-1 added to the soil. The 2: 2 spatial arrangement was the one with the best productive performance, with higher net income and rate of return in the intercropping of carrot-cowpea.

ABSTRACT The use of a cropping system that provides producers with better land use, higher productivity per unit area, greater diversification in production, and, consequently, agro-economic advantages, is the choice of many vegetable producers. To meet the demands of these producers, experiments were conducted under field conditions in a semi-arid environment to evaluate the production and agro-economic benefits of carrot x vegetable cowpea associations as a function of green manuring with biomass of Merremia aegyptia L., a spontaneous species from the Caatinga biome, in different spatial arrangements at two cropping years. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with treatments arranged in a 4 x 3 factorial scheme, with four replications. The first studied factor was the amounts of M. aegyptia biomass (20, 35, 50, and 65 t ha-1 on a dry basis), while the second factor was the spatial planting arrangements (2:2, 3:3, and 4:4), corresponding to rows of carrot alternated with rows of vegetable cowpea. The production optimization of the carrot and cowpea cultures was achieved with the incorporation of the M. aegyptia biomass amounts of 32.69 and 50.17 t ha-1, respectively, and agro-economic optimization of the entire intercropping system was obtained at a biomass amount of 34.66 t ha-1. The spatial planting arrangement of 2:2 resulted in the greatest agro-economic efficiency of the crop association.

ABSTRACT Two experiments were conducted in different areas of the Rafael Fernandes Experimental Farm, located in Lagoinha district, 20 km from Mossoró municipality (RN), in the period from June to September of the years of 2015 and 2016 with the objective of evaluating and estimating agronomic and economic feasibility indicators of cowpea-vegetable as a function of amounts of hairy woodrose (Merremia aegyptia (L.) Urb.) biomass incorporated into the soil in two crops. Treatments consisted of the following amounts of hairy woodrose biomass: 20, 35, 50 and 65 t ha-1 on a dry basis. The cultivar of cowpea-vegetable planted was “BRS Itaim”. The evaluated characteristics were: length of green pods, number of green pods per m2, productivity and dry mass of green pods, weight of 100 green grains, yield and dry mass of green grains. In addition, the following economic indicators were evaluated: gross income, net income, rate of return and profitability index. The optimization of the agronomic efficiency of the cowpea-vegetable was obtained in the amount of 45 t ha-1 of hairy woodrose biomass incorporated into the soil and the optimization of the agroeconomic viability of the cowpea-vegetable cultivation was reached in the quantity of hairy woodrose biomass of 37.70 t ha-1 added to the ground. The first growing crop yielded better agroeconomic efficiency of cowpea-vegetable than the second crop. The use of hairy woodrose as green manure is economically feasible and recommended to the farmer in the production of cowpea-vegetable under the evaluated conditions.

Um experimento foi conduzido com o objetivo avaliar o desempenho agroeconômico da consorciação cenoura, coentro e rúcula em função de densidades populacionais das culturas. O delineamento experimental utilizado para a tuberosa foi o de blocos casualizados, com quatro tratamentos e 4 repetições. Os tratamentos utilizados foram quatro combinações de densidades populacionais das culturas coentro, cenoura e rúcula (50%-50%-50%, 40%-50%-40%, 30%-50%-30% e 20%-50%-20%). O delineamento experimental utilizado para as folhosas foi o de blocos casualizados, em esquema fatorial 2 x 4, com 4 repetições. Os tratamentos consistiram da combinação de duas épocas de cultivo e quatro combinações de densidades populacionais das culturas coentro, cenoura e rúcula. As características avaliadas na cenoura foram: altura de plantas, número de hastes por planta, massa seca da parte aérea, produtividade comercial, total e classificada de raízes; Nas folhosas foram avaliadas: altura, número de folhas/planta, produtividade, massa seca da parte aérea e os indicadores agroeconômicos, tais como: índice de uso eficiente da terra, renda bruta, renda líquida, taxa de retorno e índice de lucratividade. O maior desempenho agroeconômico do sistema foi verificado na densidade populacional de 30%-50%-30% na primeira época de plantio para as folhosas.

Sementes de flamboyant (Delonix regia) apresentam germinação baixa e irregular devido à presença de dormência causada pela impermeabilidade do tegumento. Com a finalidade de determinar-se um método eficiente para acelerar e uniformizar a germinação, suas sementes foram submetidas à métodos de quebra de dormência. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o inteiramente casualizado com oito tratamentos e quatro repetições de 25 sementes cada. Os tratamentos foram constituídos por: 1-Testemunha (sementes não escarificadas); 2- sementes intactas + embebição por 24 horas; 3- escarificação mecânica por 5 minutos; 4- escarificação mecânica + embebição por 24 horas; 5- água quente à 80º C por 5 minutos; 6- água quente à 80º C por 5 min + embebição por 24 horas; 7- escarificação química com ácido sulfúrico por 5 min e 8- escarificação química com ácido sulfúrico por 5 min + embebição por 24 horas. As características avaliadas foram: emergência, vigor (percentual de emergência, índice de velocidade de emergência), altura de plântulas, número de folhas, comprimento de raiz e massa seca das plântulas. Pode-se observar diferença significativa entre os tratamentos avaliados para todas as características avaliadas. Entre os tratamentos para superação de dormência destacam-se a escarificação mecânica e o aquecimento em H2O 80 ºC.

Visando promover o método mais eficiente para superação da dormência em sementes de jucá, espécie com grande potencial madeireiro, medicinal e ornamental, foi conduzido um experimento em casa de vegetação na Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido – UFERSA, em Mossoró, RN. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o inteiramente casualizado com quatro repetições de 25 sementes cada. Os tratamentos utilizados foram: 1 - Testemunha (sementes não escarificadas), 2 - sementes intactas colocadas em embebição por 24 horas, 3 - escarificação mecânica por 5 min., 4 - escarificação mecânica seguida de embebição por 24 horas, 5 - água quente à 80º C por 5 min., 6 - água quente à 80º C por 5 min. seguida de embebição por 24 horas, 7- escarificação química com ácido sulfúrico por 5 min. e 8- escarificação química com ácido sulfúrico por 5 min. seguida de embebição por 24 horas. As características avaliadas no jucá foram: percentagens de emergência, índice de velocidade de emergência, altura de plantas, comprimento de raiz e massa seca da parte aérea. Os resultados mais promissores a emergência e ao desenvolvimento inicial das plântulas de jucá foram escarificação mecânica e química.Palavras-chaves:Caesalpinia férrea, propagação, germinação, arborização

ABSTRACT The integration of research emphasizing sustainable development, employment, income generation and food security has been highlighted in the media. The objective of this research was to evaluate the agro-economic responsiveness of radish associations with cowpea in the presence of different amounts of roostertree, spatial arrangements and agricultural crops. The experimental design was a randomized block design with four replications, with treatments arranged in a 4 x 3 factorial scheme, where the first factor consisted of four amounts of C. procera incorporated in the soil (20, 35, 50 and 65 t ha-1 on a dry basis) and the second factor of three spatial arrangements (2:2, 3:3, and 4:4) in two cropping seasons. Radish samples were evaluated for plant height, dry mass of shoots, total and commercial productivity of roots, productivity of scrap roots, and dry mass of roots, while in cowpea, vegetation was assessed for length of green pods, number of pods per square meter, productivity and dry mass of green pods, number of green grains per pod, weight of 100 green grains, and yield and dry mass of green grains. The economic indicators of monetary advantage and modified monetary advantage were used in the evaluation of efficiency. A greater agro-economic responsiveness of the intercropping of radish and cowpea crops was obtained with the incorporation of 56.44 t ha-1 of C. procera. The spatial arrangements of 3:3 and 4:4 had better agronomic and economic responsiveness. The association between radish and cowpea is feasible when the crops are fertilized with C. procera.