Coverage plants in the management of skeletal coffee

Abstract

Currently, one of the most used practices in national coffee production is skeletal pruning, to preserve productive capacity, correct plant architecture, minimize the occurrence of diseases, among others. Also, it reduces the plants diameter, exposing the soil to climatic conditions, erosion, loss of moisture and nutrients, negatively affecting the development of coffee. The use of cover plants intercropped with coffee is presented as a technique to avoid and minimize these problems. Therefore, the objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of cover crops on the chemical and physical characteristics of the soil and the skeleton coffee tree. The experiment took place at Fazenda Boa Esperança, city of Serrania, South of Minas Gerais, from October/2017 to December/2018, in randomized blocks, composed of 8 treatments with and without cover crops. Three replicates per treatment were used, totaling 24 experimental plots, each with 14 plants, being the 10 central considered useful for evaluation. The cover crops contributed to the improvement of nutrient contents in the soil, maintained a better level of humidity and milder temperatures providing a greater development to the skeletonized coffee. They also positively influence weed control, but none could suppress all plants present in the research.