COFFEE YIELD AND PHOSPHATE NUTRITION PROVIDED TO PLANTS BY VARIOUS PHOSPHORUS SOURCES AND LEVELS

• Main Authors: Kaio Gonçalves de Lima Dias, Antônio Eduardo Furtini Neto, Paulo Tácito Gontijo Guimarães, Thiago Henrique Pereira Reis, Cesar Henrique Caputo de Oliveira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de Lavras 2015-04-01
• Series: Ciência e Agrotecnologia
• Subjects: Nutrição do cafeeiro; Coffea arabica; adubação fosfatada
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1413-70542015000200110&lng=en&tlng=en

Phosphorus (P) is considered one of the nutrients that most limits crop yields, especially in soils with an advanced degree of weathering. To evaluate P dynamics and availability in soil resulting from various P doses and sources and to assess the resulting P content of coffee leaves and the final coffee yield, an experiment was conducted in the municipality of Três Pontas, MG, Brazil, in a Red Argisol (Ultisol) area. Fertilization, except for P fertilization, was performed based on the soil analysis results. The annual P doses tested were 0, 75, 150, 300, 450 and 600 kg ha-1 P2O5. Two P sources, simple superphosphate and magnesium thermal phosphate, were evaluated and compared in the study. A physicochemical analysis of the soil and an analysis of leaf dry matter were performed. The available P content in the soil increased as a result of the applications of the two sources. The leaf P levels stabilized at approximately 1.8 and 1.9 g kg-1 for simple superphosphate and magnesium thermal phosphate, respectively, as a result of the application of approximately 300 kg ha-1 P2O5. The coffee responded to P fertilization in the production phase. Averaged over three harvests, the yield per harvest showed gains of 45.3% and 40.3% for simple superphosphate and magnesium thermal phosphate, respectively, with the application of the highest studied dose, 600 kg ha-1 P2O5.