Occurrence of weeds, nutrition and vegetative development of pineapple in different spatial arrangements and soil management

Abstract

Brazil is one of the largest pineapple producers in the world, however, problems related to crop management, such as low plant density, high incidence of weeds and inadequate soil use, have compromised vegetative development and generated losses in productivity and reduced fruit quality. The purpose of the study was to evaluate increasing planting densities and soil cover on the occurrence of weeds, nutrient accumulation in the 'D' leaf and vegetative development of the pineapple, cultivar BRS 'RBO'. The experiment was carried out at Embrapa Acre, municipality of Rio Branco, in a randomized block design, with a 5 x 4 factorial arrangement, five planting densities, 35,715; 37,030; 38,460; 47,619 and 51,280 plants ha^-1 and four types of soil management, black mulching, white mulching, uncover soil and covered soil with forage peanuts. The occurrence of weeds, the concentration of nutrients in the leaves were evaluated; the variables of vegetative growth and the number of slips emitted per pineapple plant. Thirteen weed families were identified, highlighting Cyperaceae, Malvaceae and Poaceae, with 19 species cataloged. The increase in planting density does not change the concentration of nutrients in the 'D' leaf and reduces the occurrence of weeds in crops without ground cover. The forage peanut suppresses the occurrence of weeds, but harms the growth of the pineapple plant, and in less dense plantations, the coverage with black mulching reduces the incidence of weeds, favors the vegetative phase and the formation of pineapple slips.