Performance of sweet corn cobs in an intercropping system with Crotalaria juncea under organic management

Abstract

The objective was to evaluate the impacts of organic management of the intercropping between
corn and Crotalaria juncea, about of quality of sweet corn cobs. An experiment was carried out
at Embrapa Agrobiologia between Nov/2010 and Mar/2011. A randomized complete block design
with 06 treatments and 04 replications was used: T1: C. juncea sown 07 days before corn
and management at 33 days after emergence (33-DAE); T2: C. juncea sown on the same date
as corn (29-DAE); T3: C. juncea sown 14 days after corn (102-DAE); T4: C. juncea sown 28
days after corn (88-DAE); T5 and T6: corn in monoculture, with and without nitrogen fertilizer
coverage, respectively. The treatments T4 and T6 showed the best results. The production of
sweet corn is possible in intercropping with C. juncea, whenever the legume is sown 28 days
after the cereal. It is also necessary to observe the conditions of nitrogen nutrition and water
availability for the cereal.