Abstract
Knowledge about the seasonality of different genotypes of Coffea canephora is an important tool for this crop management, particularly with regard to irrigation and fertilisation issues. This study was conducted in Espírito Santo, Brazil and aimed at to evaluate the seasonal vegetative growth in genotypes of C. canephora, as related to climatic factors, based on the growth of groups of orthotropic and plagiotropic branches with different ages. Three groups of plagiotropic branches and one group of orthotropic branches of 14 genotypes (Ipiranga and 13 that belonged to the variety Vitória) were selected and marked to followed along the one-year experiment. Three-year-old plants were cultivated under full-sun conditions, with a spacing of 3 m between rows and 1 m between plants. The growth rates of the orthotropic and plagiotropic branches differed among the genotypes and underwent seasonal variation during the entire year, with high correlations to the air temperature. Under the natural experimental conditions, the growth rate of the branches decreased when the minimum air temperatures were below 17.2ºC for most of the genotypes studied. The plagiotropic branches presented lower vegetative growth, mainly for the coffee berries, compared to the younger branches. Presumably, the genotypes of C. canephora demanded more nutrients for growth between mid-September and the second week of May.
Highlights
The genus Coffea has more than 124 species, among which C. arabica L. and C. canephora Pierre ex A
This study was conducted in Espírito Santo, Brazil and aimed at to evaluate the seasonal vegetative growth in genotypes of C. canephora, as related to climatic factors, based on the growth of groups of orthotropic and plagiotropic branches with different ages
The minimum and average temperatures (Figure 1A) presented the lowest average values from May 16 to September 24, which characterised a period of conditions adverse to the growth of orthotropic and plagiotropic branches (Libardi et al, 1998; Partelli et al, 2010)
Summary
The genus Coffea has more than 124 species, among which C. arabica L. and C. canephora Pierre ex A. The global production of coffee surpassed 144 million bags (Ico, 2013). In the 2012 the production of C. arabica (Arabica coffee type) and C. canephora (Robusta coffee type) reached approximately 38.4 and 12.5 million bags (each bag of 60 kg), respectively, occupying an area of 2.27 million hectares (Conab, 2013), being exported a total of about 32 million bags in 2011 (Ico, 2013). C. arabica is the most cultivated species, C. canephora is increasing its importance, worldwide. The same is occurring in Brazil, which has most of its C. canephora production in the State of Espírito Santo, which in the 2012 was responsible for 8.49 million bags (Conab, 2013)
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