Effect of Different Intercropping Arrays with Dragonfruit (Hylocereus undatus) On Agroecological Outdoor Production of Habanero Pepper (Capsicum chinense Jacq.)

Habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense Jacq.) is one of the most relevant horticultural crops of the Yucatan Peninsula in southeast Mexico. Although export-orientated greenhouse production is increasing in this region, there is a considerable amount of small-skilled producers which crop the pepper outdoors for the local markets. Nevertheless, for their focus on one single crop, these producers suffer from dependency on high investment costs for synthetic inputs, oscillating market prices and a huge gap in their cropping period. Therefore, a trial realized 2009 and 2010 in José María Morelos (centre of the Yucatan peninsula) evaluated the option of outdoor-intercropping the pepper with the perennial dragon fruit [Hylocereus undatus (Haworth) Britton and  Rose], a highly demanded crop in this region and on the exportation market. This cactus was selected due to its uncomplicated crop management and its low water and nutrient need. Two different arrays regarding pepper and the fruit planting were compared. Additionally, two ways of staking the dragon fruit with living stakes were evaluated: (1) the hog plum (Spondias purpurea) which provides a third crop versus (2) Bursera simaruba, commonly used for stabling the dragon fruit in Yucatan. Pest and weed management was based on organic farming principles. In order to reduce investment costs for producers, all applied treatments used locally produced or at least available substances.  Fertilization was done using cow manure. Drip irrigation was used. Results showed significantly higher output when pepper and dragon fruit were cropped in different rows (at equidistance of minimum 150 cm) compared to an array altering dragon fruit respectively stable plants and the peppers in the same row—thus, principally due to competition for sunlight (shadow caused by the the staking plants). Competition for nutrients was of minor importance. Comparing Spondias purpurea with Bursera simaruba as staking plants for the dragon fruit, no effect on pepper-output was shown. In a second trial with the same time scale, pest-, weed- and soil-nutrition-management but without intercropping dragon fruit, it was proved that sunlight is essential for habanero pepper production: plants exposed to a daily average of minimum six hours of sunlight produced 2,968 kg ha^-1. Peppers cropped with less daily sunlight resulted in an output of 1,103 kg ha^-1.