Brown eye spot in coffee subjected to different drip irrigation and fertilization management

Abstract

Brown eye spot is one of the main diseases of coffee trees. The aim of this study was to evaluate the severity of brown eye spot in coffee plantations subjected to different drip irrigation and fertilization management. The study was carried out in Lavras-MG, Brazil, in a plantation of the cultivar MGS Travessia. Disease assessments were performed monthly from March 2012 to June 2014. The experimental design was a randomized block design with 12 treatments. The irrigation treatments were the control without irrigation, irrigation all year, suspension of irrigation for 30 days in July, and for 70 days between July and September. Fertilization treatments were recommended rate of NK fertilizer, high rate of NK plus P and high rate of NK. severity of the disease integrated into area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC). There was a difference in AUDPC in the evaluated years, reflecting the biennial characteristic of the coffee crop. There was no significant interaction between irrigation and fertilization. However, when irrigation and fertilization treatments where analyzed separately, the suspension of irrigation for 70 days between July and September in 2012 favored brown eye spot and in the same year the high rates of NK increased productivity.