Spatial variability of macronutrients in a crop of conilon coffee in the north of Espírito Santo

Abstract

RESUMO -Os solos do Estado do Espírito Santo apresentam baixa fertilidade natural, que frequentemente limita a produção das lavouras devido às deficiências de alguns elementos. No entanto, os mesmos apresentam alto potencial de produção agrícola quando são sanadas as limitações químicas presentes. Objetivou-se no presente estudo descrever a variabilidade espacial dos macronutrientes cálcio (Ca), magnésio (Mg), fósforo (P) e potássio (K) em uma lavoura de café conilon (Coffea canephora Pierre) localizada na área rural do município de São Mateus, ES. O experimento foi conduzido em uma lavoura, plantada com espaçamento 1,8 x 1,0 m (5.555 plantas ha ABSTRACT -The soils in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil (ES) display low natural fertility, which often limits the production of the crops due to the deficiency of some elements. However, they have a high potential for agricultural production when the chemical limitations which are present are overcome. The aim of this study was to describe the spatial variability of the macronutrients calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in a crop of conilon coffee (Coffea canephora Pierre) located in the rural area of the city of São Mateus, ES. The experiment was carried out on a crop, planted at a spacing of 1.8 x 1.0 m (5,555 plants ha -1 ). A rectangular grid of 61.6 x 20.0 m (1,232 m 2 ) was considered, with 60 sampling points, spaced 5.6 m apart between rows and 5.0 m within each crop row. At each point in the sampling grid, soil samples were collected at a depth of 0.00-0.20 m. All the macronutrients under study displayed a strong spatial dependence. The greatest range of spatial dependence was observed for Mg (32.4 m) and the smallest for Ca (8.1 m). Study of the spatial variability of the chemical properties of the soil by geostatistics, using kriging, proved to be an important tool in understanding the spatial distribution of macronutrients in the soil, and may be crucial in aiding the decision making that helps to attend the nutritional requirements of the conilon coffee crop.

Spatial variability in fertigated coffee yields and plant nutrients in soil saturation extracts

“…kriging) has also been widely used as a management tool for various crops. Studies on sugarcane (Li et al, 2019) and conilon coffee (Santos et al, 2015) have demonstrated that spatial interpolation via kriging can be used to estimate calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) deficiencies in the soil, and may be a useful tool in the process of meeting crop nutritional requirements. Given the importance of coffee and the lack of studies that examine the relationship between spatial variability in soil attributes and yield, studies involving soil nutritional variables are essential for precision agriculture.…”

“…linear model.Carmo et al (2016) andSantos et al (2015) fit the same models to coffee yield and plant nutrients in the soil. Nevertheless, few studies have fit models to the relationship between plant nutrients in the soil saturation extract and coffee yield.…”