Coffee Yield and Microenvironmental Factors in a Native Tree Agroforestry System in Southeast Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

In Minas Gerais State, Brazil, some shade coffee production systems presented extremely low yield and have become economically unsustainable for family coffee farmers. In this study, coffee yield and microenvironmental factors in the agroforestry system were associated with tree species and the number of trees at different distances from the coffee shrubs. Forty coffee shrubs were marked, and concentric circles were established around each shrub at distances of 3 m, 5 m, and 7 m. The shade, litterfall, soil moisture, soil P content, and soil K content were determined near the coffee shrubs. Data were analyzed by path coefficient analyses. The number of individual Schizolobium parahyba trees between 0 and 3 m was positively correlated with soil P content, but this species was negatively correlated with coffee yield at all distances. The number of individual of Senna macranthera trees between 3 and 5 m was positively correlated with shading, which was positively correlated with soil moisture and, in turn, positively correlated with coffee yield. The results of this study suggested that growing individual S. macranthera trees between 3 and 5 m from coffee shrubs enhances coffee yield due to shading, which maintains soil moisture longer during the dry season.