Soil enzymatic activity under coffee cultivation with different water regimes associated to liming and intercropped brachiaria

Adriano Delly Veiga,Raquel Nogueira Rodrigues,Ieda de Carvalho Mendes,André Alves de Castro Lopes,Omar Cruz Rocha,Fábio Bueno dos Reis Junior,Antônio Fernando Guerra

doi:10.1590/0103-8478cr20200532

Adriano Delly Veiga, Raquel Nogueira Rodrigues + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-8478cr20200532

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Abstract

ABSTRACT: This research evaluated the effects of coffee cultivation with two different water regimes associated or not with liming and the presence/absence of brachiaria as intercrop on the activities of the soil enzymes β-glucosidase, arylsulfatase and acid phosphatase. The study was carried out at the experimental farm of Embrapa Cerrados, using the cultivar IAC 144 (Coffea arabica L.), under a clayey dystrophic Cerrado Oxisol. Two water regimes (WR) were considered, WR1 with irrigation shifts throughout the year and WR3 with controlled water stress, for about 70 days, in the dry season. In each water regime, effects of lime application (with/without) and the presence/absence of brachiaria cultivated between the lines of coffee plants were evaluated. The activities of the enzymes β-glucosidase, arylsulfatase and acid phosphatase were evaluated during the rainy and dry seasons. Liming and intercropped brachiaria positively affected the activities of the three enzymes assessed in this study at varying degrees, depending on season and/or the WR. Our findings evidenced that intercropped brachiaria in coffee rows was the factor that most positively impacted soil enzymes activities.

Highlights

Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of coffee in the world, with a 2020 estimated total production of 3.8 million tons, in a planted area of approximately 2 million ha (CONAB, 2020)
We hypothesized that irrigation management associated with liming and intercropping with brachiaria influence enzymes activities and; the quality of soils under coffee cultivation. To test this hypothesis the present study evaluated the effects of coffee cultivation with two different water regimes associated or not with liming and the presence/absence of brachiaria as intercrop on the activities of the soil enzymes b-glucosidase, arylsulfatase and acid phosphatase
Activities of the b-glucosidase and arylsulfatase were, respectively, 33% and 46% higher in treatments with the presence of brachiaria compared to treatments without cover plants between the lines (Table 3)

Summary

Introduction

Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of coffee in the world, with a 2020 estimated total production of 3.8 million tons, in a planted area of approximately 2 million ha (CONAB, 2020). The existence of some edaphoclimatic parameters that are favorable to the development of coffee cultivation contributed to the initial establishment of the crop in the Cerrado region, that is responsible for about 40% of the national production. The use of controlled water stress to standardize the flowering of irrigated coffee in the Cerrado is a strategy that allows optimizing the productivity and quality of the final product (VEIGA et al, 2019). The use of lime, for example, is an essential practice in the Cerrado, which allows increasing levels of calcium and magnesium, neutralizing aluminum, and reducing soil acidity, promoting better use of fertilizers with improved assimilation of nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulfur (CASTRO & CRUSCIOL, 2013)

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