Amazon chicory: growing at full sunlight or under shade?

ABSTRACT Climatic factors can decisively influence the growth and productivity of agricultural crops. For unconventional vegetables, such as the Amazon chicory, the influence of sunlight on growing cycle is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of shading levels on the productive performance of Amazon chicory. The authors used a randomized block design, with four treatments and five replicates. The treatments were black polypropylene screens, 30, 50 and 70% shading, and cultivation at full sunlight. Vegetative development and production traits were evaluated. Correlation and principal components analysis (PCA) were performed with the aid of the computer program R. No significant difference between the shading levels for the evaluated traits was noticed. Nevertheless, the cultivation at full sunlight allowed an increase in production, compared to the 70% shading screen. A strong positive correlation between productivity, leaf fresh mass and amount of water in the shoot area was verified, with a coefficient equal to 1. Only the leaf area characteristic was poorly correlated with other traits (angle >90º). Therefore, we suggest growing the Amazon chicory both at full sunlight and under 70% shading.

摘要 气候因子可对农作物的生长与产量产生决定性影响。对于亚马逊菊苣（Amazon chicory）这类非常规蔬菜而言，光照对其生长周期的影响尚不明确。本研究旨在探究遮光梯度对亚马逊菊苣生产性能的影响。研究采用随机区组设计，设置4个处理组与5次重复，处理组分别为黑色聚丙烯遮阳网（遮光率30%、50%、70%）以及全光照栽培。研究者对植株营养生长性状与产量性状进行了测定，并借助R统计软件完成了相关性分析与主成分分析（PCA）。结果显示，各遮光梯度下的测定性状均未出现显著差异，但与70%遮光率的遮阳网处理相比，全光照栽培的产量更高。研究发现产量、叶片鲜重与地上部含水量之间存在极强的正相关关系，相关系数达1；仅叶面积性状与其余性状的相关性较弱（夹角＞90°）。综上，本研究建议亚马逊菊苣可采用全光照或70%遮光率的条件进行栽培。