Sweet potato yield in succession to corn and legumes

Abstract

The present study presents an experience conducted together with a family farmer whose
unit is located in the municipality of Seropédica, Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro. The
objective was to evaluate the adoption of a practice of crop rotation with the participation of the
farmer. It was adopted as a strategy the practice of green manure using as pre-crops, intercropped
legumes with corn and single corn. The development of intercropped maize with different
legumes was affected by low precipitation, because there was competition between intercropped
species. As a result, during the cutting, the existing plants in each demonstration unit
were legumes and the single corn. Each of these green manures produced significant amounts
of dry biomass, standing out the crotalaria juncea with production of 3912 kg ha-1, which was
the pre-crop that provided greater productivity of sweet potatoes, generating significant gains
in the income of the farmer.