Impact of Nutritional Management on Available Mineral Nitrogen and Soil Quality Properties in Coffee Agroecosystems

Juan Fernando Casanova Olaya,Judith Rodríguez Salcedo,María-Cristina Ordoñez

doi:10.3390/agriculture9120260

Juan Fernando Casanova Olaya, Judith Rodríguez Salcedo + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture9120260

Copy DOI

Journal: Agriculture	Publication Date: Dec 12, 2019
Citations: 2	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Cauca

Abstract

Coffee crop management is guided by an approach of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers application in order to guarantee high production rates; however, this type of management increases soil degradation. A study was conducted in order to evaluate the impact of changing soil nutritional management from Chemical (NPK) to Organic (Farmyard Manure-FYM), and from Chemical (NPK) to Mixed (NPK + FYM) regarding soil quality properties and mineral nitrogen available in coffee agroecosystems; a multi-spatial analysis was carried out considering a unifactorial design; soil samples were taken from depths between 0.10 and 0.20 m in 42 plots; physical and chemical variables were measured (ammonium, nitrates, pH, organic matter, moisture, bulk density and texture). It was found that Chemical Management affects the physical and chemical properties of soil quality (organic matter, humidity, bulk density, and pH), resulting in significant differences (p < 0.05) comparing to Mixed and Organic Management. The lowest level of organic matter was found under chemical management, being of 3% and increasing up to 4.41% under mixed management. Mineral nitrogen availability in the form of ammonium, was not affected by nutritional management. A higher concentration of nitrate was found under Mixed Management (105.02 mg NO3 kg−1), presenting significant differences (p < 0.05) against Chemical and Organic. There was no significant difference between Organic and Chemical Management. The study allowed us to determine that, through coffee organic nutritional management, it is possible to keep suitable soil quality conditions in order to reduce soil degradation, and to keep mineral nitrogen available for the development of coffee plants.

Highlights

At the global level, coffee production is the main economic-productive activity for approximately25 million small coffee crop growers [1] and it generates more than 5 million direct and indirect jobs; about 20% of total production costs correspond to the use of synthetic agrochemicals [2]
The ammonium concentration was more homogeneous in Organic Management (OM) than in Mixed Management (MM) and Chemical Management (CM) (Figure 3)
The current study shows that through the change from chemical to organic and mixed nutritional management, it is possible to have the same mineral nitrogen levels than with NPK application only

Summary

Introduction

Coffee production is the main economic-productive activity for approximately25 million small coffee crop growers [1] and it generates more than 5 million direct and indirect jobs; about 20% of total production costs correspond to the use of synthetic agrochemicals [2]. According to the International Coffee Organization (ICO), coffee consumption has doubled its growth rate in the last 20 years and an upward trend of 2.5% a year is estimated, corresponding to an increase in consumption of 25 million bags in the 10 years [3]. This coffee consumption’s demand is leading to an increasing use of chemical synthesic fertilizers to ensure good yields.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion