Manejo intercalar de leguminosas perenes na cultura do café em produção

Abstract

Intercropped legumes in coffee rows perform as green manure, providing good soil coverage and reducing weed infestation. This study evaluated soil coverage and interference of forage peanuts and perennial soybean on weed infestation and phytosociology, and on growth and yield of coffee plants. The experiment was done in Patrocínio/MG, in a 11 years old producing coffee orchard, cultivar Catuaí Vermelho IAC-99, spaced by 3.80 x 0.70 m. Nine treatments were evaluated as a 23+1 factorial, in randomized blocks, with 4 repetitions, with two perennial legumes: forage peanuts (Arachis pintoi) and perennial soybean (Glycine wightii); two types of side management: with no side management, or with side management with glyphosate at 50 cm from canopy projection; two types of vertical management: no vertical management, or with legume vertical management at 5 cm above soil level. The additional treatment, the control, was done with the herbicide glyphosate (1.0 kg ha-1 of acid equivalent) between the rows. The two legume species resulted in good soil coverage, reducing weed infestation. Bidens pilosa and Spermacoce latifolia were the weed species with the greatest index of importance value. Perennial soybean, regardless of management, reduced the average number of nodes and coffee yield. Legume growth with no side management also affected coffee yield negatively, with greater interference during the high yield year. Forage peanut, with side management, did not affect the vegetative and yield characteristics of coffee.