Bioativador de solo e mulching na cultura do pepino amour

Abstract

The cucumber crop (Cucumis sativus) shows promise, being a great alternative for income diversification. However, there is a lack of knowledge about techniques and products that can be used to increase productivity and that do not harm the environment, making agriculture more sustainable. In this sense, the objective of this work was to evaluate the productivity and quality of pickled cucumbers using a soil bioactivator (vitasoil ® brand) and the technique of implementing organic mulching (with black oat straw) in the production system. A randomized block design was used, in a factorial scheme, with factor 1 with and without bioactivator and; Factor 2, with the presence or absence of black oat straw mulching, with three replications. The variables analyzed were fresh fruit mass per plant, relative chlorophyll content, soluble solids content (TSS, ºBrix), titratable acidity, pH and shoot dry mass. For statistical analysis of the experiment data, the R software was used. The yield of cucumber fruits of the cultivar Amour showed no significant differences with the use of mulching and bioactivator, with average values of 54.6 and 54.7 t.ha­1 , respectively. Fruit quality did not show significant differences with mulching and bioactivator in the cucumber crop. The presence of organic mulching helped to conserve soil moisture in the 0­20 and 20­ 40 cm layer and reduced soil temperature. Therefore, in the climatic conditions of Dois Vizinhos ­ PR, mulching with organic cover is an adequate management practice, due to its ability to reduce soil temperature.