Soil attributes and cupuassu tree performance in consortium with forest species under two densities of peach palm

ABSTRACT

The cupuassu tree is one of the most frequent species in agroforestry systems, mainly in consortium with peach palm. However, there is few information regarding the management, spacing and studies of interactions between them The objective of this work was to evaluate the size and productive performance of the cupuassu tree, and the spatial variability of soil attributes in agroforestry system with peach palm. An agroforestry consortium composed of cupuassu, andiroba, peach palm and copaiba plants was selected, later divided into two modules, distinguished by the density of peach palm (32 plants per ha^-1 and 64 plants per ha^-1). In both, each component was selected and georeferenced, considering one cupuassu plant per repetition. Soil samples were collected in a mesh of double lines of 3 x 8 m every 9 meters, and the data were submitted to geostatistical analysis. The cupuassu tree variables were compared between the modules, by the t test (p<0.05); and according to their position in relation to the peach palm (in the row and between rows), by the F test (p<0.05). The soil attributes showed moderate spatial dependence, except organic matter, with weak dependence. The agroforestry system with cupuassu tree, andiroba, copaiba and peach palm (32 plants per ha^-1) had better soil chemical attributes and produced more fruits than the intercropping with twice as much palm trees. The size of the cupuassu tree was not influenced by peach palm densities (p>0.05). However, between the rows of the peach palm, the height of the cupuassu plants is highest (p<0.05) and the fruit yield is 50% higher than that one of the cupuassu trees grown in the same row as the peach palm.

Keywords
Agroforestry systems; Cupuassu production; Geostatistics; RECA project