Abstract
<p>Coffee cultivation in Brazil is still predominantly in full sun. However, the shading technique has gained prominence to increase the sustainability and profitability of production. Coffee intercropping legumes, besides contributing to shading, act as green manure, improving soil characteristics. Thus, in this study the objective was evaluating the shading intercropping effect on the initial development of coffee trees. The experiment was carried out at Sítio Santa Felicidade, municipality of Campestre - Southern Minas Gerais. Four species of the Crotalaria genus were used and one control treatment without any intermediate species, totaling 5 treatments. The planting was carried out in 4 replicates per treatment, in a randomized block system (DBC), with 16 coffee plants per plot. The 10 central plants were used for evaluation. The variables analyzed were: seedling setting (%), plant height (cm), leaf area index (LAI), number of plagiotropic branch internodes and 50 cm from ground level (cm²), temperature (°C) and soil moisture (%). Data were statistically interpreted by variance analysis and comparisons of averages performed by the Scott-Knott test at 5% probability, using the statistical software SISVAR®. It was observed that, except seedling setting (%) wherein there was no statistical difference among treatments, the other parameters showed positive responses in intercropping with crotalaria when compared to the control, showing the beneficial effect of the use of this legume when intercropped with coffee tree. </p>
Highlights
Coffee originates in the deciduous forests of Ethiopia and Sudan (Boulay et al, 2000) and is adapted to shade (Ricci et al, 2006)
The shading technique has expanded in the country due to the need to produce with fewer inputs, as occurs in the organic system (Morais et al, 2009)
The plants average height showed that the presence of intercropping shading had a positive response when compared to the control treatment, highlighting the species Crotalaria spectabilis and Crotalaria juncea (Table 3)
Summary
Coffee originates in the deciduous forests of Ethiopia and Sudan (Boulay et al, 2000) and is adapted to shade (Ricci et al, 2006). After 17 months, the following characteristics were evaluated: seedling setting (%), plant height (cm), leaf area index - LAI (cm2), mean length of plagiotropic branches at 50 cm from the ground (cm), number of internodes in plagiotropic branches and at 50 cm from the ground level (cm2) and the soil temperature (°C) The plants average height (cm) showed that the presence of intercropping shading had a positive response when compared to the control treatment, highlighting the species Crotalaria spectabilis and Crotalaria juncea (Table 3).
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