Behavior of corn cultivars when intercropped withCrotalaria juncea: preliminary study

Abstract

The intercropping system of corn with green manure should follow technical criteria to avoid competition between them and to improve the economical culture’s productivity. The objective of this work was to evaluate grain production and the agronomic characteristics of different corn cultivars intercropped with Crotalaria juncea. A randomized block design in a factorial scheme with four repetitions was used. The first factor was formed by three corn cultivars: 1.‘UFVM 100’, synthetic variety; 2.‘Tombos’, ‘crioula’variety; 3.‘AG 1051’, double hybrid. The second factor was formed by three cultivation systems: 1. corn alone; 2. intercropping of corn with C. juncea, being the leguminous cut when the eighth leaf from the corn is expanded; 3. intercropping of corn with C. juncea during the whole corn cycle. The hybrid AG 1051 showed higher yield of grains in the intercropping with C. junce. As a consequence of the competition with C. juncea, the ‘UFVM 100’variety demonstrated a reduction on the grains production.