ABSTRACT:
The use of cover crops preceding vegetable cultivation has been one option to reduce the necessity of mineral fertilizers. In this study we evaluated the soil covers applied preceding planting and its effects on some agronomic characteristics and productivity of cauliflower and cabbage. We used a factorial randomized blocks design, with four soil covers (sunnhemp, brachiaria, millet and fallow) and two crops (cauliflower and cabbage) with four replications in plots of 20 m2 (4x5 m). We determined the number of leaves, height, head and stem diameter, and fresh and dry mass. Mulches influenced positively the agronomic characteristics of cauliflower and cabbage for head diameter (55.1 and 194.8 cm), stem diameter (70.4 and 49.2 mm) and horizontal diameter (169.9 and 14 8 mm), fresh mass (1.0 to 2.8 kg) and dry mass of the head (73.4 and 0.65 g) and productivity (7.3 to 19.2 t/ha) of the crops, respectively, when grown on brachiaria waste. The marketable fresh mass of cabbage (2.8 kg) was higher than the standard required by the Brazilian consumer market.
Keywords:
Brassica oleracea var. botrytis; Brassica oleracea var. capitata; mulching crops; nutrient cycling; productivity.
