Impacto agronômico e dano econômico da interferência entre leiteiro (Euphorbia heterophylla) e feijoeiro (Phaseolus vulgaris) em intervalos distintos de semeadura

Abstract

Bean crop has great economic importance to Brazil and specifically for the South West of Parana, where it is grown mainly in small and medium farms. It constitutes one of the richest foods consumed by the Brazilian people, especially for the poorest populations. In this context, the scientific study of production systems and technological advances are essential to increase productivity and profitability. Among the factors that limit crop development, is the need to better understand the weed population levels that justify its control attending economic aspects, which would result in better control decision-making and, consequently, lower costs to farmers. In this context, an experiment was carried out at the experimental area of the Federal Technologic University of Paraná, Campus Pato Branco, in order to verify the economic injury level and competitive potential of the Euphorbia heterophylla under different sowing dates and densities of this weed in relation to the bean crop. The experiment was laid out as a randomized blocks arranged in a split-plots design with four replications. At the main plots were located eight expected densities of E. heterophylla (0, 6, 10, 17, 29, 49, 83 and 142 pl m-2) and at the subplots two sowing dates of E. heterophylla (12 days before bean sowing and at the crop sowing day). Evaluations were made on the agronomic characteristics of the bean plants during its development and at the harvest period. Moreover, morphological characteristics of the E. heterophylla and the beans were also evaluated at the same periods. To determine the crop yield losses was used the hyperbolic model and the linear segmentation method, and extracted the parameters "i" (percentage loss per plant of E. heterophylla), which were used in calculating the economic injury level. E. heterophylla sowed before the crop as well as its density increase led to reduced productivity of the bean, mainly due to reduction in the number of pods per plant. Moreover, the interference of the E. heterophylla on the bean crop resulted in lower plants, reduced leaf area index, lower dry weight, less number of leaves, less number of productive branches, however resulted in shorter height of the pods insertion on the crop. Early sowing of E. heterophylla results in better development of the weed specie in relation to the sowing data were both, weed and crop are sowed at the same day, resulting on higher leaf area, higher dry matter production and soil cover by the weed species. Percentage of yield losses due to the weed plant presence could be adequately estimated through the different models used. Both the linear and the hyperbolic model indicate a higher percentage loss when the sowing of E. heterophylla occurs before than the common bean crop. The hyperbolic model overestimates the values of the critical level of damage in relation to the linear model. Increases on the yield losses per unit weed, lower crop yield, lower herbicide efficiency and lower value of the harvested product resulted in smaller values of the economic injury level. Although, as the E. heterophylla control cost increase, the economic injury level also increases.