Yield and gross income of two cultivars of taro in monocrop and intercrop systems with lettuce

Abstract

The objective of this work was to determine yield capacity and gross income of ‘Chinês’ and ‘Macaquinho’ taro cultivars under monocrop and intrercrop systems with ‘Grand Rapids Nacional’ lettuce in order to offer to producers a new alternative of production. Harvest of lettuce was done on 57 days after sowing and of taro on 285 days after planting. Fresh and dried masses of aerial parts of lettuce plants were not influenced significantly by the cultivation system. Fresh mass of aerial parts of ‘Chinês’ taro plants was significantly higher in 1.46 t ha-1 than ‘Macaquinho’ , but it was not affected by cultivation system. Fresh mass of ‘Macaquinho’ corms was superior in 5.83 t ha-1 compared with ‘Chinês’. Fresh mass of big commercial cormel of ‘Macaquinho’ (23.30 t ha-1) was significantly higher than “Chinês”, but with fresh mass of small commercial cormel occurred the inverse. Both two consortia were economic viable, but lettuce/’Macaquinho’ taro consortium was the best (R$ 83,664.00 ha-1), because it can induce a gain of R$ 50,664 ha-1 in relation to monocrop of lettuce, and a gain of R$ 21,768 ha-1 in relation to lettuce/’Chinês’ taro consortium.