Intercropping studies in pineapple

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at Sapé, PB, Brazil, in red-yellow podzol soil, with, the objective of studying intercropping of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp), bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) with pineapple (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.) in two different spacings (0.90 mx 0.30 m and 0.80 mx 0.30 m). As a control, these crops were cultivated separately in experimental plots. The intercropping was done in the first year of the pineapple planting. The secondary crops were planted two months after the principal one. Intercropping did not affect the production of pineapple. Under the spacing of 0.90 mx 0.30 m, the production of pineapple increased with intercropping, irrespective of the crop, although the best results were obtained with Phaseolus vulgaris. In the case of 0.80 m x 0.30 m spacing, the maximum production of pineapple was obtained with cowpea as an intercrop. All the systems were economically viable, with maximum retums (2.05) being achieved in the case of pineapple (0.90 mx 0.30 m) groundnut combination.