Avaliação agronômica de nopalea cochenellifera em função da frequência de colheita

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the morphological, productive and chemical characteristics of the forage cactus as a function of three harvest frequencies in the rainfed system. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design with three crop frequencies: semiannual, annual and biennial, after the cut of uniformity, which was carried out in January 2017, in the second productive cycle of the cactus tree, cultivated in single rows, for the planting was used the var. Palmepa PB01. The plants were spaced 1.0 m x 0.50 m for cultivation, with a planting density of 20,000 ha-1 plants. In relation to the primary cladodes in the semiannual cuts larger amounts and greater thicknesses were observed. Annual and biennial cuttings showed higher rainfall efficiency, water productivity, forage mass and lower plant mortality ha-¹. For the accumulation of green and dry matter yield, the annual yields presented higher values with 274 and 21.3 tons. ha-¹ respectively. The green and dry forage accumulation rate of annual frequencies presented higher values 13.33 and 1.03 g / kg per day-¹ plant, respectively. The phenotypic correlations between the morphological and productive characteristics vary according to the frequency of harvest, as well as the bromatological composition. The annual harvest frequency provides higher yields, efficiency per area, longevity and water accumulation, which suggests annual harvests of forage cactus.