Dry beans phaseolus vulgaris l. and sugarcane saccharum officinarum l. planting systems study

Pereira, E. B.; Nogueira, F. D.; Andrade, L. A. D. B.; Paula, M. B. D.

A study has been conducted at Campo do Meio, south of Minas Gerais state [Brazil], to compare dry beans planting systems intercropped with sugar-cane and mineral fertilizer practices. The planting systems used were: two dry beans rows spaced 25 or 40 cm from sugar-cane rows, with or without the application of fertilizer (400 kg/ha of 4-14-8 NPK for dry beans and 400 kg/ha of 20-10-20 NPK for sugar-cane). The experimental design was a randomized complete block in a factorial arrangement (2 .times. 2 .times. 2) with two additional treatments (sugar-cane in monocrop with and without fertilizer) and four replications. The dry beans cv. Carioca 1030 were sown at density of 15 seeds/m three days after sugar-cane cuttings. Sugar-cane cv. NA 56-79 had rows spaced 1.4 m. Sugar-cane fertilizer, was applied 15-20 cm deep into the two furrows 40 cm apart from sugar-cane rows. Dry beans without fertilizer intercropped with sugar-cane showed to be viable and did not affect the sugar-cane yield and the fertilizer applied to dry beans was not enough for the sugar-cane to present acceptable yields. Both dry beans planting systems were viable, however, only when the sugar-cane received fertilizer, the dry beans planting system with rows spaced 40 cm from the sugar-cane, showed acceptable yield.