Crop diversification in a cocoa agroforestry system in the Jamal massif, Baracoa municipality

Abstract

The increase in agricultural biodiversity is one of the keys to success. In the efforts of achieving a sustainable agriculture, the fundamental motivation in this research, was to evaluate the impact of the diversification of short-cycle crops in a System Agroforestry of Theobroma cacao L., in the Jamal massif, Baracoa municipality, on Sialitic Brown soil, undulating relief and average slope of 15 percent. Taking an extensive bibliographical review as a starting point, the materials and methods were established, selecting two plantations located in the same edaphoclimatic conditions. In one of them, alternatives were applied for the diversification of crops in the cocoa agroforestry system (polyculture) and in the other the normal conditions of the management of monoculture plantations were maintained. Plantings were carried out during the period from February 2017 to the first semester of 2018, in the Jamal cocoa massif, Baracoa municipality. Short cycle crops used: Zea mays L. (corn), Cucurbita pepo L. (pumpkin), Cajanus cajan (L.) (pipe pigeon pea) Huthy, Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott. (malanga). The productive efficiency of intercropping crops was compared to those carried out in monoculture, for which the equivalent index of land use (IET) was used. Coinciding with several expert researchers on the subject, it was validated that polycultures achieved greater efficiency than monoculture crops by presenting IET values greater than unity (1), without affecting the main crop and its yields. It was shown that associating short-cycle crops with cocoa cultivation allows obtaining various crops, increasing agricultural production, generating additional income for the producer and improving their food sovereignty, factors that positively impact the sustainability of the cocoa agroforestry system.