Produtividade e comportamento de cultivares de café arábica às principais doenças e pragas

Abstract

Various cultivars of Coffea arabica L. are available in the market for utilization by coffee growers, a result of the effectiveness of breeding programs over the years. However, achieving the ideal cultivar is a constant challenge. The aim is to meet the diverse economic demands of the market, providing significant gains to the production chain. These gains can manifest in productivity, resistance to diseases and pests, as well as in the quality of the beverage. However, coffee cultivation faces complex challenges, including climate change threatening crop quality and intensifying phytosanitary problems such as coffee leaf rust. Genetic improvement emerges as a crucial solution to develop adapted cultivars, although there are gaps in research, especially regarding the performance of these cultivars in diverse environmental conditions. Despite the advances of Brazilian research institutions, environmental variability in coffee-growing regions of the country still poses a challenge in recommending and adopting cultivars with multiple resistance to pests and diseases. With the aim of mitigating some of these problems, the present study was conducted to characterize 34 cultivars of Coffea arabica L. regarding their agronomic performance. The behaviors of the cultivars were evaluated concerning the expression of coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix) and coffee leaf spot (Cercospora coffeicola), infestation by coffee berry borer (Leucoptera coffeella), and nematodes (Meloidogyne exigua). For this purpose, two experiments were conducted in the coffee sector of the Federal University of Lavras since the year 2016. The statistical design used was randomized complete blocks with four replications, and experimental plots consisted of eight plants. One of the experiments contained 25 cultivars and the other 26, representing the treatments. They were installed side by side sequentially, with 17 common treatments, which allowed the statistical analyses to be performed in combination. Evaluations were conducted from 2018 to 2022, quantifying 14 agronomic characteristics, including productivity, fruit yield, percentage of immature and ripe fruits, percentage of flat and pea berry grains, percentage of grains retained above sieve 16, incidence and severity of coffee leaf rust and coffee leaf spot, incidence of coffee berry borer, number of coffee berry borer mines, and number of nematodes. Statistical analyses were performed for the different characteristics, combining them into a standardized selection index, weighted by economic importance. This allowed the identification of cultivars that combine the best agronomic attributes. The cultivars Graúna, Acauã Novo, IAC Obatã 4739, Asa Branca, IAC 125 RN, and Sarchimor MG8840 stood out for presenting productivity and factors of disease resistance and pest tolerance of greater economic importance in the culture. It is worth noting that the worst values in the sum of the indices were found for the Catuaí group cultivars, once again highlighting the efficiency of genetic improvement programs in developing new cultivars. This reinforces the need to intensify the rate of substitution of old cultivars with new ones, since these offer greater economic advantages associated with multiple resistance, providing greater sustainability.