Manejo de cambissolos e argissolos na implantação de cafeeiros

Abstract

Agronomic techniques that increase the efficiency of production systems in the face of climatic variations are increasingly necessary in the search for a more sustainable agriculture. The water restriction and the annual average temperature increase already significantly affect coffee productivity and quality in the main growing regions. The scarcity of water for coffee production is often caused by the reduction of the water recharge capacity of the soils due to inadequate management. In this sense, the present study proposes the use of soil management techniques that allow the efficient use of water stored in the soil, such as soil conditioners and deep furrows, to better utilize the water resource for a greater volume of soil explored. Two experiments were installed, one in the Bom Sucesso municipality located in the western physiographic mesoregion of Minas, and the other in the municipality of Nazareno located in the physiographic mesoregion Campo das Verentes, Minas Gerais. For the first one, the preparation of a Red Yellow Argisol, consisted in the opening of the grooves of planting with dimensions of 0,40 m of width and 0,60 m of depth, being made the disintegration of the ground until the 0,60 m. The treatments consisted in the application of fertilizers and plastic cover in the cultivation line, being: M: mineral fertilization; O: organomineral fertilization; MM: mineral fertilization + plastic cover; OM: organomineral fertilization + plastic cover; MZ: mineral fertilization + mineral zeolite. In this experiment the influence of managements on the spatial-temporal variability of soil water content, as well as its plant availability, root distribution and pore system were evaluated. The second experiment was conducted in Cambissolo, whose implantation of coffee trees was aimed at investigating the deep groove preparation associated to an additional agricultural corrective in the quality indexes and in the normalized volume pore distribution function [S * (h)] in the soil profile. The treatments consisted of: 40 (conventional trowel with 0,40m furrow); 60 (groove opening with 0.60 m soil preparation with conventional correction (60S) and complementary limestone (60C)); 80 (groove opening with 0.80 m soil preparation with conventional correction (80S) and complementary limestone (80C)) in addition to a preserved area and therefore not stirred, Natural. Both technologies have proved their efficacy for the cultivation of coffee trees in areas of shallow soils that have limitations to root development, to overcome problems caused by the water deficit in the initial phase of coffee development. As there were improvements in the porous system of the soils along the studied profiles, the implementation of managements promoted increase of available water content in the soil profile and favored the growth of the root system of the plants.