El café es un cultivo dependiente del agua disponible en el suelo, bien sea a través de la lluvia o del riego, ya que ésta tiene un marcado efecto en la productividad y la distribución de la cosecha. Conocer el efecto de la distancia entre plantas sobre el comportamiento de la humedad en el suelo y el consumo de agua, influye en las prácticas agronómicas del sistema productivo del café, entre ellas: la densidad de siembra, la fertilización, y las épocas de siembra. El estudio se realizó en la Estación Experimental Naranjal ubicada en Chinchiná (Caldas, Colombia) a 04° 58’ N, 75° 39’ O; 1,381 m de altitud y tuvo como objetivos conocer el comportamiento de la humedad en un Andisol sembrado con café en tres densidades de siembra, estimar la evapotranspiración de referencia (ETo) y evaluar la evapotranspiración del cultivo (ETc). La humedad del suelo se midió con una sonda de capacitancia de 100 cm con sensores espaciados cada 10 cm. La humedad en el perfil del suelo varió con la densidad de siembra y entre los periodos secos y húmedos considerados. La ETo y la ETc fueron influenciadas por las condiciones de clima, siendo mayores en la época seca y menores en la época de lluvias. La densidad de siembra afectó las propiedades hidráulicas del suelo. No obstante, por la capacidad de almacenar agua que caracteriza a los Andisoles, las plantas tuvieron agua disponible aún en las épocas secas. La sonda de capacitancia mostró ser un instrumento efectivo para el estudio del comportamiento del agua en los suelos de la región cafetera de Colombia, especialmente aquellos sensibles a las limitaciones ocasionadas por el déficit hídrico como producto de la variabilidad climática actual y futura.

In Uraba, Antioquia (Colombia), there is a shortage of first-semester fruits and a surplus of second-semester fruits as a result of low or high precipitation, respectively, affecting the value of production. An experiment was established during 2015-2016 in an area representative of the region in order to determine the field distribution and plantation density that maximize the agronomic potential of Musa AAA Simmonds cv. Williams. The population arrangement treatments (rectangle, triangle and double row), planting densities (2,000; 2,500, 3,000 and 3,500 plants/ha) and one control (1,700 plants/ha in a triangle) were evaluated in a complete, random block design with three repetitions. In the phenological phases of floral differentiation, flowering and harvest, the gas exchange was quantified with measurements of the photosynthesis rate, internal CO2 concentration, stomatal conductance, transpiration, vapor pressure deficit, and water use efficiency. The leaf temperature, quantum photosynthesis efficiency and efficient use of radiation were also considered. The yield components and fruit quality were estimated with fruit mass, number of hands, number of fruits, length of the last hand and degree of the second and last hand. The results showed that the density 2,500 plants/ha, distributed in a triangle or double row, promoted the best use of the climate elements associated with photosynthetic activity under the environmental conditions of Uraba, Antioquia.

Banana is after apple, the most consumed fruit in the world for its nutritional contribution. Given its importance, it is necessary to advance in the development of agronomic management strategies that contribute to increase productivity and offer alternatives to regulate the consequences derived from the seasonality of production in the Urabá area (Colombia). For this, the clone Williams (Musa AAA Simmonds), at different planting densities (2000, 2500, 3000 and 3500 plants ha-1), different population arrangements (triangle, rectangle and double furrow), compared with a relative control (1700 plants ha-1 in triangle) was evaluated. The design used was randomized complete blocks in factorial arrangement of 4 x 3 + 1 (densities x arrays + control). The variables height and perimeter of the pseudostem, number of leaves from planting to harvest, leaf area index (IAF), light extinction coefficient, number of suckers and developmental stages (days elapsed after flowering and harvest) were determined. An analysis of general variance was carried out and another one excluding the control. The Tukey test (P <0.05) was applied to the qualitative variables and contrasts of orthogonal polynomials were made to test the linear and quadratic effects of the population density factor. The results indicated that the high planting densities and the population arrangements had a negative effect on the perimeter of the pseudostem and the height of the main sucker, favored the LAI, influenced the extinction coefficient, but did not affect the development of the plants.