Seasonal vegetative growth of different age branches of Conilon coffee tree

Abstract

The seasonal pattern of vegetative growth is an important feature for evaluation of crop status and its management. The aim of this work was to evaluate the seasonality of vegetative growth of Conilon coffee tree (Coffea canephora Pierre) and its relation with climate variables. The evaluation of vegetative growth rates of three groups of plagiotropic branches and one group of orthotropic branches was performed along one year, in Rio Janeiro state, Brazil. The vegetative growth rates of the branches varied along the period of evaluation, and it seems to be related to the minimum air temperature (in the low growth phase). Higher growth rates were observed when the average of minimum air temperatures was higher than 17ºC and the average of the maximum temperatures lower than 31.5ºC. Below 17ºC the growth rate declined. The branches' growth patterns appeared to be similar, but the plagiotropic branches of different ages presented different rates in the same period of the year, indicating that seasonal growth studies should not be based on a single branch group with the same age. Key words: Coffea canephora, air temperature, stress ResumoO padrão do crescimento sazonal do cafeeiro é um importante auxiliar na avaliação do estado fisiológico e no manejo da cultura. O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar o crescimento vegetativo em Coffea canephora Pierre cv. Conilon e relacionar com fatores climáticos, tendo por base o crescimento de ramos ortotrópicos e plagiotrópicos com diferentes idades. Marcaram-se três grupos de ramos plagiotrópicos e um de ramos ortotrópicos, cuja avaliação de taxa de crescimento foi efetuada durante um ano no Estado do Rio de Janeiro. A taxa de crescimento varia ao longo do ano, o que parece estar relacionado com a temperatura mínima do ar (na fase de baixo crescimento). Foi observada taxa mais elevada quando a média da temperatura mínima do ar foi superior a 17ºC e a média das temperaturas máximas inferior a 31,5ºC. Abaixo de 17ºC a taxa de crescimento dos ramos diminuiu. O padrão sazonal de crescimento dos ramos é semelhante, contudo, os ramos plagiotrópicos de diferentes idades apresentam taxas de crescimento diferentes no mesmo período do ano. Assim, estudos sobre o crescimento vegetativo sazonal dos ramos não deve se basear apenas num grupo de ramos com idades similares. Palavras-chave: Coffea canephora Pierre, temperatura do ar, estresse 1 Engenheiro Agrônomo, Doutor em Produção Vegetal. Professor da

<b>Vegetative growth of Conilon coffee plants under two water conditions in the Atlantic region of Bahia State, Brazil

“…In the Atlantic region of Bahia, Brazil, the growth pattern of the orthotropic and plagiotropic branches of C. canephora was not determined by the minimum air temperature (Figures 2, 3 and 4). This is in contrast to the States of Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro (Partelli et al, 2010) because the average minimum air temperature, even during the winter period, always remained above 17ºC in the present study ( Figure 1A). It has been demonstrated that C. canephora plants growing at latitudes higher than 15ºS show higher vegetative growth rates during periods with longer, hotter days and higher rainfall, while low vegetative growth rates are observed during periods with colder and shorter days (Nazareno et al, 2003;Partelli et al, 2010).…”

“…This is in contrast to the States of Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro (Partelli et al, 2010) because the average minimum air temperature, even during the winter period, always remained above 17ºC in the present study ( Figure 1A). It has been demonstrated that C. canephora plants growing at latitudes higher than 15ºS show higher vegetative growth rates during periods with longer, hotter days and higher rainfall, while low vegetative growth rates are observed during periods with colder and shorter days (Nazareno et al, 2003;Partelli et al, 2010). Coffea canephora plants can endure higher temperatures than C. arabica ; however, they are less adapted to low temperatures (DaMatta & Ramalho, 2006;Batista-Santos et al, 2011;Ramalho et al, 2014;Scotti-Campos et al, 2014).…”

“…Within these periods, it is possible to observe a temperature increase in the region, i.e., 3.0 to 5.0ºC in the average maximum and minimum temperatures, respectively ( Figure 1A), compared with the winter temperatures. According to Partelli et al (2010), the vegetative growth rate of C. canephora cultivated in the North Fluminense region of the Rio de Janeiro State indicates a linear increment as a function of the temperature increase (end of winter and during spring), a condition that is also observed in different genotypes in the Northern region of the Espírito Santo State .…”

“…In a similar way, in the next year (2012), the two newest plagiotropic branches from the upper orthotropic branch were also labelled: one on January 28 th (PlagN2) and the other on April 29 th (PlagN3). These two additional plagiotropic branches were, measured due to the loss of strength of the previously-labelled branches (Partelli, Vieira, Silva, & Ramalho, 2010). The length of these branches was recorded at intervals of approximately 14 days during a two-year period (until July 30 th 2013).…”

Seasonal Vegetative Growth in Genotypes of Coffea canephora, as Related to Climatic Factors

“…When cultivated at low temperatures (below 17ºC), C. canephora presents marked decreases in growth (Libardi et al, 1998;Partelli et al, 2010) and photosynthesis Batista et al, 2011), with negative impact on yield. The climate parameters for the zoning of C. canephora varieties are based on the region of origin.…”