Intercropping Pineapple With Rice or Cowpea: An Alternative for Family Farming in the State of Tocantins, Brazil

Pineapple is commonly planted in monoculture systems. It is a long-cycle crop that takes time to monetize, which hinders its cropping by small farmers. The objective of this work was to evaluate the production and quality of pineapple with short-cycle crops, at the beginning of the growing period, as an alternative for family farming in the state of Tocantins. The experimental design was randomized complete block with three treatments and four replications. The pineapple was intercropped with rice and cowpea. The treatments consisted of T1- pineapple + rice; T2- pineapple + cowpea and T3- pineapple in monoculture. The evaluated variables of the pineapple fruit were pH, soluble solids, titratable acidity, yield, fruit mass, fruit length with crown, fruit length without crown and fruit circumference. For the rice and cowpea, the yield and the Area Equivalence Index (AEI) were determined. The cropping system did not influence the pineapple fruits quality. The pineapple yielded less. Cowpea yielded more when intercropped with pineapple. The AEI of the pineapple + rice intercropping was 2.07, being feasible for increasing the use of the area by 100%. The AEI of the pineapple + cowpea intercropping was 2.48, being feasible as it increased the use of the area by 148%. The results obtained showed that it is possible to intercrop pineapple with rice or cowpea at the beginning of pineapple cultivation, and it can be a viable alternative for family farming.