Pumpkin and beet production on straw

• Grant number: 18/16551-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2018
• End date: November 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Crop Science
• Principal Investigator: Pâmela Gomes Nakada Freitas
• Grantee: Gabriel Ferraresi Hidalgo
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Tecnológicas. Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Dracena. Dracena , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The total carbon content is an important indicator of sustainability and soil quality, and the greater the intensity of tipping, the greater the loss of carbon in the form of CO2. The plowing causes a marked loss of gases and surface heating by exposure to solar radiation, contributing to the increase of the greenhouse effect. In order to minimize these effects, it is proposed to implement plant coverages in the production of 'Menina Brasileira' pumpkin and 'Early Wonder' beet in a no-tillage system, and to verify its benefits in the chemical, physical and macrofauna attributes of the soil , as well as crop productivity. The experiment will be a randomized block design, with a subdivided plot and four replicates. In the first stage, the treatments will consist of three vegetation cover crops (Crotalaria juncea, millet, 70% C. juncea + 30% millet), and two cropping systems in the sub-plot (no-tillage; conventional tillage: plowing, harrow). After the mowing, 'Menina Brasileira' squash will be planted in the spacing of 2.0 x of 2.0 m. In the second stage, after harvesting the pumpkins, the following parcels shall be planted in the same plots: lupine, white oats, and the mixture of 70% lupine + 30% white oats, and in the same subplots, also after the cutting, the planting of beet 'Early Wonder' in the spacing of 0,30 x 0,15 m. The plant coverings will be conducted until the beginning of the flowering, and later cut with brushcutter. The soil characteristics to be evaluated will be: chemical attributes: pH, H + Al, Al, P, K, Ca, Mg, MO, CTC, SB, V%; physical attributes: granulometry (sand, silt, clay), soil gravimetric moisture, total porosity (microporosity and macroporosity), soil density, soil resistance, water infiltration rate, aggregates; soil macrofauna and dry matter determination of plant coverings. The production characteristics to be evaluated will be: pumpkin: length, bunch diameter, mass and number of fruits per plant, and productivity; of beet: length, root diameter and mass, leaf dry mass, and yield. The data will be submitted to analysis of variance, and when there is a significant difference, Tukey test will be applied to the vegetation cover, and t test for the planting systems, all at a 5% probability level.