Fertigation and growth regulator on coffee seedling production in tubes

Victor Peçanha De Miranda Coelho,Mychelle Carvalho,Kelly Martins Rosa,Paulo Eduardo Branco Paiva,Édimo Fernando Alves Moreira

doi:10.1590/1983-40632018v4852148

Victor Peçanha De Miranda Coelho, Mychelle Carvalho + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/1983-40632018v4852148

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Abstract

ABSTRACT The use of quality seedlings is important in establishing a productive coffee crop. However, the most widely used method to produce coffee seedlings is time consuming (6-12 months) and lacks new production technologies. This study aimed to assess the use of fertigation and a growth regulator in the production of coffee seedlings, in order to develop a system faster than the conventional method. For that, Topázio coffee cultivar seeds were pre-germinated and planted in tubes filled with substrate (composted pine bark), in a protected nursery. A randomized block design was used, in a 4 x 2 (fertigation levels x the use or not of growth regulator) factorial scheme, with four replications. Daily fertigation positively influenced all the growth variables evaluated. The foliar spraying of the growth regulator had little effect on seedling growth. When compared to the conventional system described in the literature, the coffee seedling production system described here reduced, by around 60 days, the production time and enables a large-scale production.

Highlights

Brazil produced 45.5 million bags of coffee in 2017, with exports totaling USD 2.5 billion dollars that year
The seedlings emerged at 10 days after the tube planting (DAP), reaching the so-called ‘matchstick’ stage
Leaf pairs emerged in the following chronological order: first pair at 45 DAP (Figure 1C); second pair at 60-80 DAP (Figure1D); third pair at 90-100 DAP; and fourth pair at 120 DAP (Figure 1E)

Summary

Introduction

Brazil produced 45.5 million bags of coffee in 2017, with exports totaling USD 2.5 billion dollars that year. The Minas Gerais state is the largest producer, with 25.7 million bags, corresponding to 56.5 % of the national production (Agrianual 2018). In the commercial seedling production, most producers and nurseries use plastic bags containing a mixture of cattle manure and subsurface soil as substrate, supplemented with chemical fertilizers (Tomaz et al 2015). This method is time consuming (at least six months), requires significant manpower and involves the risk of contamination by pathogens, making it inefficient

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