Técnicas agronômicas para mitigação dos efeitos da restrição hídrica no cafeeiro

Abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate the potential of different innovative and traditional agronomic techniques to mitigate the damage caused to coffee trees due to climate change. The experiment was conducted in the field, at the Universidade Federal de Lavras - UFLA, in Lavras, MG, from January 2016 to October 2017. The factors under study were arranged in a factorial scheme 3x2x5, totaling 30 treatments, which were allocated in sub-subdivided plots in the experimental area. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Three soil managements (mulch, brachiaria and exposed soil), two types of fertilizers (conventional and controlled release fertilizer) and five soil conditioners (coffee husk, agricultural gypsum, hydro-retentor polymer, organic compound and control) were used in the study. Plant growth, soil moisture, soil resistance to penetration, physiological, anatomical characteristics and soil chemical attributes were evaluated. The most important variables were selected and used to present and discuss the results. We performed the analysis of variance and the study of the means, and later, the multivariate analysis of the data was used. Mulching and brachiaria are efficient agronomic techniques to optimize coffee cultivation under conditions of reduced water availability. Furthermore, coffee bark allowed better water use in the coffee plant and favored the conditioning of the soil. Controlled -release fertilizers and agricultural gypsum, even without significant growth gains in plants, caused improvements regarding anatomical and physiological aspects. The use of organic compost favored greater water availability, but due to its chemical composition, it caused losses in coffee.