Management of orchard leading to use of brachiaria and rotary mowers

Abstract

The management of lines of citrus orchards has changed in recent years. Thus this project aims to assess the effect of the use of two Brachiaria in Tahiti lime orchards, managed with a rotary mower (conventional and organic) - with and without the use of herbicides for weed control, plant growth, and production of plants from Tahiti, fertility and soil physical properties. The experiment was conducted in 2010 in an orchard in Tahiti, using sub divided plot scheme, in a randomized block design with four replications. The plots established two types of Brachiaria: Brachiaria decumbens and B. ruziziensis; in sub plots - types of a rotary mower, conventional and ecological, and already in the sub plots, and absence of glyphosate application online. The Brachiaria were sown in January 2010 and the Tahiti lime orchard was deployed in March of that year. The evaluations were initiated in November 2010 with the first cuts, where the fresh and dry masses, and between the lines of the canopy (after cuts), were measured - which will be repeated in the 2011/2012 season (between the months of October/2011 and abril/2012). About thirty days after each mowing assessments will be made of the weeds in the row of citrus - counts of the number and classification of species, in the rows of citrus trees, were calculated, and the phytosociological parameters. The seed bank in the area will also be measured after the collection of soil in the area and germinate in a greenhouse - in two seasons (winter and summer). Will also be assessed the physical attributes of soil (density, porosity, and compaction), the nutrients in the microbial biomass by fumigation method, the vegetative growth (height and diameter), and the production of plants in Tahiti lime.(AU)