An agronomic and economic evaluation of lettuce cultivars intercropped with rocket over two cultivation seasons

The objective of this study was to investigate the agronomic and economic viability of lettuce intercropped with rocket over two cultivation seasons. The experimental designs were in randomized blocks in 3 × 3 + 2 factorial arrangement with four repetitions. The treatments were made up of a combination of three lettuce cultivars (Elisa, Veronica and Lucy Brown) and three cultivation systems (monocrop, intercrop with transplanted rocket and intercrop with seeded rocket) plus two other treatments (monocrop of seeded rocket and monocrop of transplanted rocket). Measurements of plant height were taken for the lettuce, number of leaves per plant were taken for both and stand count for the rocket. Total fresh matter per hectare was evaluated for both cultures. To evaluate the efficiency of the intercrop systems, the land equivalent ratio, total operating cost, gross revenue and economic results were determined. The intercropped rocket produced higher values for leaf area, and productivity and revenues were higher for the transplanted rocket mono cropping in both cultures. The characteristics of the lettuce were affected by the different cultivation systems and the treatments with loose-leaf lettuce, mainly in the first cultivation cycle, demonstrated higher productivity, land equivalent ratio and economic results compared to the lettuce mono cropping.   Key words: Lactuca sativa, Eruca sativa, viability.