Biomassa de plantas de cobertura e sua influência na produtividade do cafeeiro

Abstract

Coffee growing plays an important role in Brazilian production, contributing significantly to the country's gross domestic product, as well as generating jobs and a source of income for millions of people. The cerrado mineiro region, an important production hub, has been introducing more sustainable technologies and forms of management with the aim of improving the physical, chemical and biological attributes of the soil in order to increase the productivity of the coffee plant. With this in mind, the aim of this work was to quantify the biomass production of inter-row cover crops and associate it with coffee productivity, yield and physical classification of the beans. The experiment was carried out at Fazenda Santa Bárbara, in Monte Carmelo - MG, with the Topázio MG-1190 cultivar at a spacing of 3.80 m between rows and 0.70 m between plants, with a surface drip irrigation system. The experiment was conducted in strips, with each row consisting of a cover crop treatment. Within these rows, seven points were collected to assess productivity and six points to collect biomass. The treatments were represented by different arrangements of cover plants between the rows of coffee trees, consisting of: (T1): mix-mix, consisting of buckwheat, crambe, brachiaria, coracana grass, crotalaria and turnip rape in both adjacent rows (100%), (T2): mix-brachiaria, with the mix of cover plants only in the upper row (50%) and the brachiaria in the lower row (50%), (T3): brachiaria-brachiaria in both adjacent rows (100%) and (T4): control treatment, without the presence of cover plants between the rows of coffee trees. Three hundred fifty coffee plants represented each row, subdivided into 50 plants per plot and 10 useful plants, totaling seven replications and 28 plots. The coffee was harvested by manual stripping in July 2023. The cover crops were harvested using a metal square measuring 0.5 m x 0.5 m (0.25 m2 ) per plot, in which the fresh mass was collected from six T1 plots and six T3 plots. Among the biomass managed between the rows of coffee trees, there were no significant differences in the parameters of productivity, yield and physical classification of the beans in terms of size and shape. The brachiaria biomass, on the other hand, was three times greater than the mix. As a result, there was no damage to agronomic parameters of the coffee tree and taking into account that intercropping with green manures is beneficial, it is recommended that they be used between the rows.