Growth and productivity of taro intercropped with pigeon pea hedgerows in organic system under different management was tested in Bom Jardim, upland region of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. A completely randomized block design was used with four replicates. The treatments consisted of unpruned hedgerows; hedgerows pruned with the biomass maintained on the soil surface; and hedgerows pruned with the biomass removed from the experimental area. The unpruned hedgerows system was shown to be advantageous by protecting taro leaves against sun burning and keeping the same productivity of the hedgerows pruned system. In addition, it represented an effective way to control weeds, reducing manual labor and costs of organic taro production in which herbicides are not allowed. The legume hedgerows pruned promoted a significant input of organic matter and nitrogen (6.58 t of dry biomass ha-1 and 159 kg of N ha-1) and the recycling of other nutrients, like 20 kg of P ha-1, 136 kg of K ha-1, 64 kg of Ca ha-1 and 16 kg of Mg ha-1.
Cajanus cajan; Colocasia esculenta; green manuring; taro
