The coffee-mango association promotes favorable soil conditions for better-nourished and higher-yielding plants

Abstract

In several countries, coffee is traditionally grown under the shade of large trees; however, the non-shade surface system has increased. Shade cultivation system benefits the soil, helps crops adaption to climate change, and reduces vulnerability. This study aimed to compare the physical, chemical, and biological soil features under coffee production systems: coffee-mango, coffee-banana, and full-sun coffee; to identify the nutritional variation of coffee plants in the three cultivation systems, and to establish recommendations for coffee production associated with other crops. Soil properties varied between the shaded and full-sun systems. The shade coffee systems had different pH, cation exchange capacity, potassium, and nitrogen concentrations, organic matter, carbon-, nitrogen-microbial biomass, and the number of earthworms from the full-sun coffee system. The coffee-mango association showed specific soil (exchangeable calcium, moisture, soil porosity, and aggregate stability index), foliar (calcium, potassium, nitrogen, iron, and chlorophyll a and b concentrations), and grain features (gold coffee yield, potassium, magnesium, and phosphorous concentrations) that make distinct from the other two coffee systems. The coffee-mango system positively influenced soil traits, nutrient concentration in leaves, production, yield, and nutritional status of the fruit. The production of coffee under full-sun adversely affects the soil and the coffee’s nutrition and yield. Therefore, the production of coffee should be in the traditional manner under shade trees. These results apply to coffee production under shade systems in other countries with similar agroecological conditions and to soil conservation as a pertinent vision under global climate change.