Identification of soil physicochemical, land suitability, and its relationship to Coffee arabica yielding based on plant age groups

Abstract

The low yield of Coffee arabica could be caused by several factors such as low soil characteristics and depending on the plant age. This study aimed: (1) to obtain information on soil physicochemical characteristics and productivity of Coffee arabica in different age groups, (2) to evaluate the land suitability for C. arabica plants and obtain the relationship between land characteristics and C. arabica yield. This study was conducted on C. arabica smallholders in Tarutung Subdistrict, North Tapanuli District, North Sumatra, Indonesia from October 2021 to February 2022 and used a descriptive-analytic method. Overlay maps of soil type, altitude, and slope to obtain a Soil Map Unit (SMU) then surveyed for the plant age distribution of 6-10 and 11-15 years. Land characteristics were analyzed by matching method, multiple linear regression, and t-test of yielding characters using IBM SPSS software. The results showed that the soil physicochemical characteristics were classified as low, the soil texture was slightly sticky, and higher productivity was found at 11-15 years old. It was found that the potential and actual land suitability classes were not suitable (N) in SMU-1 at 11-15 years, and other SMUs were classified as marginally suitable (S3). Altitude, silt, and clay fractions significantly affect the productivity of C. arabica plants at 6-10 years. However, an increase in altitude, cation exchange capacity, base saturation, and organic-C could be increased the productivity of C. arabica at 6-10 years.