Disposição das mudas de café na cova

Abstract

No presente trabalho são apresentados os dados de produção de cafeeiros plantados a quatro mudas por cova, variando, contudo, a maneira de sua distribuição dentro da cova. Um dos tratamentos corresponde ao sistema comum de plantio, no qual as mudas são dispostas em quadrado, na cova. O outro refere-se à disposição das quatro mudas em linha na cova. Visava-se, plantando as mudas desta última forma, facilitar o combate à broca do café pela retirada dos grãos que normalmente caem e ficam presos no centro dos quatro troncos formados pelo sistema comum. Os resultados obtidos, correspondentes ao período de 1951 a 1956, não indicaram diferenças significativas entre as produções dos dois tratamentos. Desta forma, embora o problema do combate à broca do café esteja resolvido com o emprêgo de inseticidas modernos, os resultados dêste ensaio mostram que qualquer um dos sistemas de plantio pode ser adotado no estabelecimento de cafèzais.

Individual trees in coffee plantations established in the state of São Paulo usually result from four seedlings that were placed in a square within the planting hole. When the plants begin to bear, this planting system favors the coffee berry-borer infestation because many fruits fall in between the stems of the four plants and are hard to be collected, thus remaining as a food source for the insect between two successive crops. Placing the seedlings in a straight line within the planting hole was thought as a method that would facilitate the harvest and permit the collection of fruits left behind on the trees or near their trunks. An experiment designed to compare this planting method with the usual one was undertaken at the Central Experiment Station, instituto Agronômico, Campinas. The red Bourbon variety of Coffea arabica was used. the seedlings in line were placed 15 cm apart, and at about 30 cm when in a square. A randomized block design with 20 replications for the two treatments was used, each plot comprising a single hole with four seedlings. Yield records were taken for the years 1951 through 1956 (Table 1). The size of the beans was also studied (Table 2). The total yield in dried fruit for this period was 135.2 kg for the plots with the seedlings in line and 131.6 kg for those with seedlings planted in a square. The difference between the two treatments was not significant. Large differences were observed between years for the same treatment, but the interaction treatments x years was not significant. Today the control of the coffee berry-borer is efficiently carried out by dusting or spraying BHC on the trees; the method of placing the seedlings in a line within the planting hole does not present advantages anymore. The results here discussed indicate, however, that both methods of seedling placement in the planting hole can be used by the farmers without affecting the yield.