Consórcio do cajueiro-anão 'BRS226' com pimenta 'BRS Avaí' na formação do pomar

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the yields of cashew nuts from the early dwarf ‘BRS 226’ cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale L.) and ‘BRS Avaí’ pepper (Capsicum frutescens L.), in sole and intercropped cultivation, as well as the incidence of perforated cashew nuts and the Equivalent Area Index (EAI) during the periods of 2018/2019 and 2019/2020. The experiment was conducted at the Curu experimental field, owned by Embrapa Agroindustry Tropical, located in Paraipaba, CE. The treatments corresponded to three cultivation areas: sole cashew, cashew intercropped with pepper, and sole pepper. The cashew nut production was assessed through fruit counting and in natura mass measurement, while for the pepper, the fresh fruit mass was evaluated. The percentage of pierced nuts was estimated using the following formula: CF (%) = (number of pierced nuts/number of nuts total) x 100. Data normality was verified through the Shapiro-Wilk test, variance homogeneity through Levene’s test, and means were compared using the test-t independent (with a significance level of 5%). The Area Equivalence Index (EAI) was determined by the equation: EAI = (Ac/Am) + (Bc/Bm), where Ac and Bc represent the productivities of intercropped crops, and Am and Bm represent the productivities of sole crops. As for the perforation rate of cashews during the two productive periods, there was a lower incidence of perforated cashews in the intercropping system, being 6.95% and 7.10% in the years 2018 and 2019, respectively. These values were significantly lower when compared to the sole cashew tree, with percentages of 8.9% and 10.09% in the same years. The efficiency of the intercropping was verified and confirmed by the total Area Equivalence Index (EAI) for the two productive periods, with values of 2.6 and 4.38 in 2018 and 2019, respectively.