RESUMEN
Weed coexistence with an agricultural crop can negatively affect its growth, development, and yield. From this perspective, this study aimed to evaluate weed management strategies and their effect on the agronomic parameters of cowpea cultivation in direct (SPD) and conventional (SPC) planting systems. The experiment was set up in a completely randomized block design with a split-plot arrangement with four replications. The plots received a source of variation referring to the planting systems (direct and conventional planting), and the subplots corresponded to ten weed management strategies (manual hoeing 18 days after planting (DAP); at 36 DAP; at 54 DAP; at 18 and 36 DAP; at 18 and 54 DAP; at 18 and 72 DAP; at 36 and 54 DAP; at 36-72 DAP; at 18, 36, and 54 DAP; and a control with no hoeing). Density and dry mass evaluations of the cowpea plants were performed at harvest (72 DAP) by determining the number of pods per plant, pod length, number of grains per pod, 1000-grain mass, and yield. A total of 28 species distributed in 12 botanical families were identified in the two cultivation systems. The family Poaceae showed the highest frequency, with 25% of the species identified. At the end of the assay, treatment 20 had the highest positive influence and provided significant quantitative gains to the complex of traits related to cowpea production (SPD and hoeing at 18, 36, and 54 DAP). UPGMA cluster analysis and canonical discriminant analysis were performed and allowed a better classification of the evaluated treatments. It was observed that the first two canonical variables explained 90.8% of the total variance contained in the original variables. The use of SPD with weeding at 18, 36, and 54 days after planting provides greater weed control and significant quantitative gains for the complex of characteristics related to cowpea production. The results underscore the importance of choosing the correct cropping system and implementing effective weeding practices to optimize weed control and improve crop performance.
RESUMEN
One of the diseases with the greatest economic impact on coffee cultivation worldwide and particularly in Peru is coffee rust (Hemileia vastatrix). The search for sustainable control methods as disease management strategies in coffee cultivation is necessary. The objective of this research was to determine the effectiveness of five biopesticides based on lemon verbena (Cymbopogon citratus) for the control of rust applied in laboratory and field conditions to allow the recovery of coffee (Coffea arabica L. var. typica) in La Convención, Cusco, Peru. Five biopesticides (oil, macerate, infusion, hydrolate and Biol) and four concentrations (0, 15, 20 and 25%) were evaluated. The biopesticides were evaluated under laboratory conditions (light and dark) at different concentrations. The design used was completely randomized in a factorial scheme. The biopesticides were incorporated into the culture medium and inoculated with 400 uredospores of rust, and the germination percentage was evaluated. Under field conditions, the biopesticides at the same concentrations were evaluated for 4 weeks after application. Under these field conditions, the incidence, severity and area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) of selected plants with a natural degree of infection were evaluated. In the laboratory, the results showed that all biopesticides were effective in reducing the germination of rust uredospores to values <1% of germination in relation to the control, which showed values of 61% and 75% in the light and dark, respectively, independent of the concentration used, with no significant differences between them. In the field, 25% oil promoted the best response with values <1% and 0% incidence and severity, respectively, in the first two weeks after application. The AUDPC for this same treatment showed values of 7 in relation to 1595 of the control. Cymbopogon citratus oil is an excellent biopesticide that can be used to control coffee rust.