População de plantas de soja em sistema consorciado com o cafeeiro e seus efeitos nos parâmetros agronômicos e índices de vegetação

Abstract

Coffee is produced at different technology levels (low, medium, and high) in the Cerrado region of Minas Gerais, Brazil. This activity has high land use value, which can result in economic losses without proper land use planning. Intercropping has improved coffee production by providing an alternative income source to producers, especially in the crop formation phase. In this context, the research was carried out with the objective of evaluating different populations of soybean plants in an intercropped system with coffee in terms of agronomic parameters and crop vegetation indices. The experiment was conducted at the Federal University of Uberlândia, in Monte Carmelo, Minas Gerais, Brazil. It had an experimental randomized block design with five treatments: the control (no soybeans); 80,000 plants ha-1; 160,000 plants ha-1; 240,000 plants ha-1; and 320,000 plants ha-1. The results showed that the presence of soybean plants between rows had no effect on coffee productivity. The population of 185,826 soybean plants ha-1 provided greater crop productivity, with decreases in productivity observed from this population density due to plant lodging. There were no changes in the biometric parameters of the coffee tree, with the exception of plant height, evidenced by the high values of vegetation indices NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation) and GNDVI (Green Normalized Difference Vegetation Index).