The association of crops with green manure legumes is a technique to promote improvement or maintenance of soil fertility. The intercrop of taro 'Japonês' with sunnhemp were evaluated in two experiments: Experiment I, sunnhemp plants were cut at ground level; and Experiment II, sunnhemp plants were pruned at the canopy height of taro. Both esperiments evaluated the effect of six times of cutting / pruning sunnhemp (75; 105; 135; 165; 195 and 225 days after sowing - DAS), as well as a single crop of taro (without sunnhemp). Plant clippings were placed on the ground and q mass and nutrients provided by sunnhemp were determined. At taro harvest, the production of classes of rhizomes and chemical changes in the soil were evaluated. The cuttings after 105 DAS provided less mass production of mother and daughter rhizomes and number/plant of large and commercial cormels compared with the control. Pruning at canopy height at 135 and 165 DAS provided the largest amounts of fresh and dry mass of sunnhemp, organic carbon and nutrients. At 165 DAS, the contribution of N to the soil by sunnhemp cutting reached 308 Mg ha-1 and by sunnhemp pruning was 202 kg ha-1. The intercrop of sunnhemp with taro is viable, with management of the intercropping indicated up to 105 DAS of sunnhemp
Colocasia esculenta ; Crotalaria juncea ; Intercropping; green manure; mulching
