PRODUCTIVE VIABILITY AND PROFITABILITY OF CARROT-COWPEA INTERCROPPING USING DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF Calotropis procera

Abstract

Intercropping system and the use of green manure with spontaneous species has been an alternative farming method applied to the productive sector of vegetables in the northeastern semi-arid region. The objective of this work was to determine which amount of Calotropis procera must be incorporated into the soil to provide the highest productive performance of the component crops and increase the profitability of the carrot and cowpea intercropping. The experimental design used was randomized complete blocks with five replicates. The treatments consisted of four amounts of C. procera incorporated into the soil: 10, 25, 40 and 55 t ha^-1 on a dry basis. The characteristics evaluated in this intercropping system were: commercial productivity of carrot roots, yield of cowpea green grains, land equivalent ratios for component crops and for the  intercropped system, score of the canonical variable of the association, and the economic indicators of gross income, net income, rate of return, and net profit margin. The maximum agronomic efficiency of the carrot x cowpea intercropping was reached at the land equivalent ratio of 1.12, using 43.39 t ha^-1 of C. procera biomass incorporated in the soil, while the maximum economic efficiency of the carrot and cowpea crops association was obtained at the net income of R$ 17,856.43 ha^-1, in the amount of 40.60 t ha^-1 of C. procera biomass added to the soil.