Desenvolvimento vegetativo e índice de clorofila de cultivares de Coffea arabica L na região do Triângulo Mineiro

Abstract

Coffee-growing in Brazil is of great prominence, with the country being a benchmark in terms of production and beverage quality, exporting coffee to various countries around the world. In this respect, knowledge of the behavior of the vegetative and productive characteristics of coffee cultivars in a given area is of great importance in correctly choosing the cultivars best adapted to the conditions of that particular environment. As this is a perennial crop that remains in the field for more than 20 years, mistakes in selecting the cultivar to be planted have negative consequences for production and development, as well as favoring the incidence of pests and diseases in the crop. With this in mind, this experiment was carried out to assess the vegetative performance and chlorophyll index of Coffea arabica L cultivars in the Triângulo Mineiro region. The experiment was set up in January 2022 at the Federal University of Uberlândia, Campus Monte Carmelo-MG, at a spacing of 3.50 m between rows and 0.6 m between plants, using drip irrigation. The experimental design used was randomized blocks, with five blocks and six treatments consisting of the cultivars IPR 106, MGS Aranãs, Arara, MGS Paraíso 2, Catucaí Amarelo 20/15 cv 479 and Catuaí Vermelho IAC 99. The plots consisted of 10 plants, the central eight of which were considered useful. The parameters assessed were height, crown diameter, stem diameter, number of plagiotropic branches, length of the plagiotropic branch, number of nodes and the leaf chlorophyll index (CI). These evaluations took place every two months between April 2023 and December 2023. The data was subjected to analysis of variance and significant differences were detected for the parameters height, crown diameter, stem diameter and CI in the plagiotropic branch on the south side at 1% probability and the length of the productive branch at 5% probability using the F test. The means obtained were compared using the Tukey test at 5% probability. With all this, it was possible to observe and analyze the behavior of the cultivars in the region, with the MGS Aranãs cultivar standing out, being superior to the MGS Paraíso 2 and Catucaí Amarelo 20/15 cv 479 cultivars in the parameters height, stem diameter and crown diameter with average values of 92.71 cm, 31.06 mm and 117.39 cm, respectively. For CI, lower values were observed in the plants from September to December due to the crop's flowering and fruit filling phenological stages, respectively, generating a large nutrient drain. Therefore, this work demonstrates the possibilities of using new cultivars that are adapted to the Triângulo Mineiro region and that can replace, when renewing coffee plantations, traditionally used cultivars that are susceptible to the main coffee diseases.