Agritrop
Accueil

Intercropping of grass cover crops in banana plantations: Impacts on banana growth and yield

Achard Raphaël, Tixier Philippe, Dorel Marc, Roger Estrade Jean. 2018. Intercropping of grass cover crops in banana plantations: Impacts on banana growth and yield. Tropical Agriculture and Development, 62 (1) : 1-8.

Article de revue ; Article de recherche ; Article de revue à comité de lecture Revue en libre accès total
[img]
Prévisualisation
Version publiée - Anglais
Sous licence Licence Creative Commons.
596719.pdf

Télécharger (388kB) | Prévisualisation

Résumé : Intercropping banana crop with a grass cover controlled by mowing is a possible alternative to chemical weed control. However, before adopting this biological way to control weeds, it is crucial to study the impact of the cover crop on banana productivity. In a field experiment, we studied the impact on the banana (Musa spp., cv Cavendish) growth and yield of two grass covers, Cynodon dactylon (Cyn) and Brachiaria decumbens (Bra), managed by mowing every two months, in comparison to conventional weed chemical control (control). The experiment was conducted during two banana cycles. Two months after banana plantating, Bra produced more biomass than Cyn (0.94 kg DM m-2 vs 0.53 kg DM m-2); afterwards both biomass productions became equivalent (0.24 kg DM m-2) when the banana plants shaded the grass. Results showed that these cover crops have impeded the banana growth and development during the first cycle: in comparison to the control, the flowering date was delayed in both cover treatments and the number of fruits per bunch was reduced in the Cyn cover treatment. During the second cycle, as a consequence of the delayed flowering date at the first cycle, banana development was also delayed on Cyn and Bra treatments. However, the presence of Cyn and Bra cover crops had no influence on the size and weight of the banana plants at flowering date, nor on the final crop productivity. These results were interpreted as a result of contrasted conditions of competition for nutrient during the two cycles: an important production of biomass and nutrient demand of the two cover crops during the first cycle, impacting the banana growth and delaying the flowering date and, during the second cycle, a lower biomass production of the both covers crops shaded by the banana canopy and a contribution to the nutrient supply provided by the decomposition of the mowed residues.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : Musa, culture intercalaire, plante de couverture, Brachiaria decumbens, Cynodon dactylon, désherbage, mauvaise herbe, rendement des cultures, culture en mélange, compétition culture mauvaise herbe

Mots-clés complémentaires : Croissance des plantes

Mots-clés libres : Bananas, Brachiaria decumbens, Cover crops, Cynodon dactylon, Weed management

Classification Agris : F08 - Systèmes et modes de culture
F62 - Physiologie végétale - Croissance et développement
F01 - Culture des plantes
H60 - Mauvaises herbes et désherbage

Champ stratégique Cirad : Axe 1 (2014-2018) - Agriculture écologiquement intensive

Auteurs et affiliations

  • Achard Raphaël, CIRAD-PERSYST-UPR Systèmes bananes et ananas (MTQ) - auteur correspondant
  • Tixier Philippe, CIRAD-PERSYST-UPR GECO (FRA) ORCID: 0000-0001-5147-9777
  • Dorel Marc, CIRAD-PERSYST-UPR Systèmes bananes et ananas (GLP)
  • Roger Estrade Jean, AgroParisTech (FRA)

Source : Cirad-Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/596719/)

Voir la notice (accès réservé à Agritrop) Voir la notice (accès réservé à Agritrop)

[ Page générée et mise en cache le 2024-01-29 ]