SOIL FERTILITY EVALUATION OF COFFEE (Coffea spp
Contents
1. Abru a F Vicente Chandler J Becerra L A Bosque Lugo R 1965 Effects of liming and fertilization on yields and foliar composition of high yielding sun grown coffee in Puerto Rico J Agric Univ P R 49 413 428 Almonte I 2008 Caracterizaci n f sico qu micas de los suelos de las principales zonas cafetaleras de la Rep blica Dominicana Instituto Dominicano de Investigaciones Agropecuarias y Forestales IDIAF y Consejo Dominicano del caf Foro Caf 4 1 Abril septiembre 2008 Santo Domingo Rep blica Dominicana 42 p Almonte I Batista I Jim nez H C spedes C Escarraman A N ez P 2010 Efectos de la fertilizaci n qu mica sobre el rendimiento y la calidad del caf Foro caf 6 29 32 Avelino J Perriot J Guyot B Pineda C Decazy F Cilas C 2002 Identifying terroir coffees in Honduras Plantations Recherche Developpement pp 6 16 Brechelt A 2008 Importancia de la materia org nica en los suelos Fundaci n Agricultura y Medio Ambiente FAMA Available online in http www rap al org articulos_files organica pdf CODOCAFE 2001 Consejo Dominicano del Caf Censo Nacional Cafetalero Rep blica Dominicana CODOCAFE 2002 Bolet n estad stico Consejo Dominicano del Caf CODOCAFE No V Santo Domingo Rep blica Dominicana CODOCAFE 2010 Consejo Dominicano del Caf Evoluci n reciente de la caficultura dominicana Foro Caf 6 15 p CENI2. Mart nez N 2010 Diagn stico de la fertilidad de los suelos cafetaleros y recomendaciones de manejo en la provincia Barahona Tesis para optar por el t tulo de Maestr a en Ecolog a y Medio Ambiente Universidad Nacional Pedro Henr quez Ure a Asesor Pedro N ez y co asesores ngel Pimentel e Isidro Almonte Rep blica Dominicana Santo Domingo 127 p Montenegro G E J 2005 Efecto del aporte de nutrientes de la biomasa de tres tipos de rboles de sombra en sistemas de manejo de caf org nico y convencional Tesis Mag Sc CATIE Turrialba Costa Rica 67 p Montico S 2006 Manejo de situaciones con suelos salinos y alcalinos C tedra Manejo de Tierras Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias U N de Rosario En linea http www produccion animal com ar suelos_ganaderos 54 salinos___y_ alcalinos pdf N ez P Cuevas B 2004 Especies arb reas de valor comercial y cultivos alimenticios presentes en cafetales de las provincias Monse or Novel y La Vega Agroforester a Res Invest Idiaf 1 1 27 Page A L Miller R H Keeney D R Eds 1982 Method of Soil Analysis Part 2 Chemical and Microbiological Properties Second Edition American Society of Agronomy Soil Science Society of America Madison P rez A 2002 Validaci n de la Efectividad y Eficiencia de la Repela Pepena y Graniteo en el Control de la Broca Hypothenemus hampei Ferrari Instituto Dominicano de Investigaciones Agropecuari
3. Los Charquitos Maria Teresa El Pino Santa Elena Chene and Las Guazaras In the upper quadrants with respect to CP2 there are areas with the highest correlation elements to this component and lower quadrants elements with negative relationship In the cluster analysis the locations El Pino Chene Maria Teresa Los Leonardos Bret n Santa Elena and Las Guazaras are grouped together Figure 2 This differentiation is shown with a dotted vertical line drawn from a value representing 50 of the maximum average euclidean distance DEPmax according with Inde ngelo et al 2007 The locations Las Lanzas Polo and Los Charquitos are grouped as sites having a soil pH pattern that is different than the other localities forming the classes A C and D respectively Los Patos Plat n Monteada Nueva La Ci naga and Bahoruco are located in class B and are characterized as having a moderately to strongly acid soil pH Soil test interpretation and management recommendations The sites were segregated into five groups based on chemical properties class A La Lanza class B Los Patos Platon Monteada Nueva La Cienaga and Bahoruco class C Polo class D Los Charquitos and class E El Pino Chene Maria Teresa Los Leonardos Bret n Santa Elena and Las Guazaras Soils from La Lanza class A had near favourable pH and OM and adequate Ca availability The main soil fertility constraint in these soils is low K and Mg
4. zara localities are grouped together as class E These soils had pH values near the upper limit of the desirable range mean of 6 59 Breton locations soils are the exception having a mean soil pH 7 11 In soils of this class exchangeable Ca and Ca Mg ratios are outside the upper limit of the target range gt 5 and 2 10 respectively so there may be an antagonistic effect between Ca and Mg which could be limiting Mg utilization The application of Mg should be considered in these soils either as individual fertilizer Mg sources or with complete formulations The soils from all locations had favorable soil OM content and total N content Coffe growing in all locations is expected to respond to P application originating from fertilizer or organic residue sources Soils in these locations should not be limited fertilizer application should not contain or contain minimum amounts of Ca and may benefit from having moderate Mg and K concentrations 137 Diagnosis of soil fertility coffee Nu ez et al The main constraints to coffee production in the Barahona province are low soil pH and N availability Soils with pH below 5 5 should be limed to reduce the potential of Mn and Al toxicicity improve base saturation and ECEC The application of lime can be used to provide both Ca and improve soil pH in acid soils In areas were soil reaction does not need to be correcterd but Ca supplementation is needed gypsum CaSO xH O can
5. be used Coffee cultivated soils in the province of Barahona are not considered saline so it is expected that coffee yields are not influenced by this condition Montico 2006 Most of the areas sampled had relatively high accumulation of plant material as mulch on the soil surface As the material decomposes it becomes part of the soil OM and most of the soils from all locations had high soil OM contents In spite of this fact it is not expcted for the organic matter to supply sufficient nutrients especially N to sustain high yields due to the lack of synchronization in N mineralization and plant uptake and the large amounts of N that are needed by coffee to sustain high yields Since since total N is not a reliable indicator of N availability N management practices should be based on expected yields and site specific empirical assessments between fertilizer N application and economic crop response Research in Puerto Rico has shown that yields of about 1 500 kg ha of coffee can be obtained with 200 kg N ha yr in years of good rainfall and application of 300 kg N ha yr can maintain production of 3 000 kg ha year of coffee Abru a er al 1959 Abru a et al 1965 Vicente Chandler et al 1968 These fertilizer N recommendations need to be evaluated based on current N fertilizer prices and on farm bean selling price Soil fertility depends on many factors among them the soil OM because it 138 contributes to an in
6. can be used to identify potential production areas facilitates the interpretation of the nutritional status of the crop and can be used to make specific recommendations about nutrition J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 11 1 127 140 2011 management of coffee We determined a minimum set of soil variables that are used as indicators of soil fertility The minimum set of indicators represent those that should be taken into account in management plans coffee nutrition A PCA permited the selection of variables and the grouping of locations into five class coffee soil to facilitate differentiated from managing crop nutrition This allowed for making broad infererences as to the potential soil fertility problems as well as general recommendations This process contributes to the sustainability of the coffee industry in the province of Barahona and improving the productivity of coffee farms ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We acknowledge the technical staff of the Dominican Coffee Council Barahona Pedernales Bahoruco and Independence the Spanish International Cooperation Agency for financing the study through project PROTESUR Also a staff of IDIAF PROTESUR with a presence in Palo Alto Experimental Station South Center IDIAF for your contributions REFERENCES Abru a F Vicente Chandler J Silva S 1959 The effects of different fertility levels on yields of intensively managed coffee in Puerto Rico J Agric Univ P R 43 141 146
7. et al 1982 All tests were performed according to the standard protocols of the CENTA IDIAF Soil Test Laboratory Each sample was tested the color wet with the Munsell color chart Statistical analysis The data were analyzed using descriptive Statistics using the InfoStat software version 2008 Multivariate analysis was applied to the data principal component analysis PCA and cluster analysis with clustering by Euclidean distance RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Overview of the coffee farms Most coffee production farms in the Barahona province are small as 64 had an area less than 5 ha and 56 of were between 2 1 and 5 0 ha The median farm area was 3 75 ha The largest farms were found in Chene and Las Cienagas locations with a mean area of 56 ha and the smallest were found in Polo and Los Charquitos with a mean of 0 94 ha Table 1 This information coincides with that reported by Nu ez and Cuevas 2004 in coffee plantations in the provinces of Monsefior Nouel and La Vega As the 130 farms were small the farmers may lack the resources to hire and or perform diagnostic techniques for soil nutrient status and plant The coffee farms evaluated were in an altitude range of 309 to 1279 m a s l Most farms 64 were within ranges considered optimal for coffee production which is between 700 and 1 000 m a s 1 Almonte 2008 Almonte et al 2010 About 17 of the farms were located at altitudes above 1 000 m a s
8. 00 and 1400 m a s l Although there are ecologically suitable for coffee production the yields reported in the majority of farms are relatively low lt 290 kg parchment coffee ha Soil is one of the most important factors related to the productivity of coffee Almonte 2008 Avelino et al 2002 reported that the acidity and soil texture influence the quality of the grain coffee Escarram n et al 2008 reported that the planting altitude and variety are the factors that have the greatest influence on the granulometry and sensory characteristics of coffee In the Barahona Province of the Dominican Republic coffee is planted mainly under shade conditions According Almonte 2008 most coffee soil from Barahona province belong to the order Inceptisols and Entisols The soils vary from moderate to strongly acidic However this information is not conclusive and varies according to the management Farmers in the area generally lack specific knowledge about the properties associated with the fertility of farm soils The lack of quantitative knowledge related to crop limiting factors prevents farmers from taking proper corrective actions hinders cultural cropping practices and reduces coffee yield and quality Proper diagnosis and sustainable fertilizer recommendations cannot be made without recent information on the fertility characteristics of soils This research was conducted with the goal of diagnosing the nutrient statu
9. 3 3 dark yellowish brown 10YR4 4 dark reddish brown 2 5YR3 3 brownish yellow LOYR6 6 pale yellow 2 5Y8 3 strong brown 7 5YR5 6 and reddish yellow 7 5YR6 6 These colors vary with the locations and the soil depth data not shown Table 2 Texture and percentage occurrence in the province Barahona n 96 Provinces Number and percentage of coffee farms texture type Clay Loamy CL SL SaL CIL FCL Total Barahona 50 10 15 20 1 0 0 96 52 1 04 15 6 20 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 0 Values in parentheses Franco clay loam FCL Clay loam CL Silt loam SL Sandy loam SaL Clayey loam CIL Soil reaction was acid in six locations Monteada Nueva La Cienega Los Patos Plat n La Lanza and Bahoruco but there was a wide range of soil reaction that ranged from with mean soil pH of 6 14 Table 3 The electrical conductivity EC ranged from 0 13 to 0 92 dS mi Soil organic matter ranged between 3 0 and 10 8 with an average of 7 4 The mean total N in all soils was 0 53 The mean available P was 14 3 mg kg and exchangeable potassium K was 0 27 cmol kg in the range of 0 12 to 0 45 cmol kg The mean content of 132 extractable iron Fe zinc Zn magnesium Mg and copper Cu were 215 4 67 46 6 5 99 mg kg respectively Soil exchangeable calcium Ca varied between 2 26 and 43 4 4 cmol kg and exchangeable Mg content ranged from 0 55 to 3 56 cmol kg The effe
10. 30 05 10 50 8 20 84 78 0 57 1 73 132 60 92 36 466 8 09 14 41 10 85 0 70 El Pino 6 48 0 54 32 17 2 94 0 39 0 37 0 00 35 87 11 50 7 96 91 66 0 00 1 14 41 64 49 67 2 59 3 68 4 70 10 24 0 74 Mar a Teresa 6 39 0 48 24 74 2 43 0 39 0 48 0 00 28 03 10 19 6 65 75 84 0 00 1 84 176 36 4488 463 5 32 7 30 8 87 0 54 Los Leonardos 6 61 0 50 32 07 3 03 0 27 0 45 0 08 35 90 11 91 12 30 139 03 0 38 1 62 291 38 7 15 5 94 2 80 12 78 7 02 0 52 Bret n 7 11 0 83 35 98 3 04 0 39 0 28 0 00 39 69 13 22 8 21 109 04 0 00 1 05 10 48 7 60 6 17 2 16 13 80 6 80 0 68 Santa Elena 6 73 0 62 40 29 2 34 0 26 0 27 0 00 43 17 1688 8 71 157 31 0 00 1 03 239 24 28 05 2 75 3 63 460 7 44 0 63 La Gu zara 6 77 0 57 37 37 2 48 0 32 0 27 0 00 4045 1492 7 99 121 23 0 00 0 76 51 15 35 01 2 56 488 451 881 0 66 EC electrical conductivity ECEC effective cation exchange capacity Ca calcium magnesium Mg K potassium Na sodium EA exchangeable acidity ASP aluminum saturation percentage SSP sodium saturation percentage Fe iron Mn manganese Cu copper Zn zinc P phosphorus OM organic matter TN total nitrogen 1107 OFT LTI 1 TT AMN 101d 195 POS Lf Diagnosis of soil fertility coffee Nu ez et al range from 0 6 to 6 65 and 0 38 to 20 respectively We expect that these Na and Al saturation indices are not limiting coffee production in the farms Soil fertility diagnosis of coffee farms The first two principal components account for 76 of the total varian
11. CAFE 1999 Fertilizaci n Almacigo CENICAFE Centro Nacional de Investigaciones del Caf Available online in http www cenicafe org Duicela L 2002 Caracterizaci n Edafol gica de las Zonas de Producci n de Caf ar bico Ecuador Escarram n A Romero J M Almonte I Ribeyre F Aguilar P Jimenez H Causse A Olivares F Ceballos F 2008 Atributos de la calidad del caf en zonas productoras de la Rep blica Dominicana Instituto Dominicano de Investigaciones Agropecuarias y Forestales IDIAF y Consejo Dominicano del Caf DODOCAFE Santo Domingo DO 92 p Hergoualc h K Skiba U Harmand J Henault C 2008 Fluxes of greenhouse gases from andosols under cofee monoculture or shaed by Inga densiflora in Costa Rica Bioeochemistry 89 329 345 139 Diagnosis of soil fertility coffee Nu ez et al InfoStat 2008 Manual del usuario Grupo InfoStat FCA versi n 2004 Universidad Nacional de C rdoba Editorial Brujas Argentina Inde ngelo N Wilson M G Tasi H A A 2007 Indicadores de calidad para dos suelos con caracter sticas v rticas de Entre R os Argentina Cad Lab Xeol Laxe Cor 32 111 125 Marques M S S N M Scott M R 2003 Descomposici n din mica de los elementos inorg nicos y colonizaci n por microrganismos de hojas de ararib Centrolobium tomentosum Guill ex Benth en latosoles del bosque Atl ntico brasile o Agric T c 63 59 68
12. Cienaga and Bahoruco locations have low soil pH with values of 4 79 4 51 and 4 53 respectively and is in accord with observations by Almonte 2008 for some 135 Diagnosis of soil fertility coffee Nu ez et al 7 00 A 1 I 1 i I L 1 Cu Monteada Nueva 3 50 s i j I Los Charquitos PSA l C E don ha Ca Mg pH 1 2 Breton rA 2 WAA ten CaCO3 oo0F P N Facce A L ali Bahoruco El Pino a o D O La Cienaga i Los pa Mar a Mgesa PsFela 1 MoK i i MO i I I 3 50 i 1 L j L L j j L I 7 00 7 00 3 50 0 00 3 50 7 00 CP 1 61 7 e Biplot variable points amp Biplot locations points CP1 Principal Component 1 CP2 Principal Component 2 Figure 1 Distribution of variables in relation to the main components coffee production of soils of Barahona These soils may require moderate lime 2 3 ton ha applications on a yearly basis The soils of the above mentioned locations are continually subjected to intensive processes of weathering due to steep slopes and rainfall greater than 2000 mm Thus special soil conservation practices need to be included in future plantings and or coffee tree replacement programs Soils from Polo and Los Charquitos localities were grouped together as a class C and D respectively These groups had similar soil fertility characteristics yet differed in the sense that Los Charquitos had highe
13. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 11 1 127 140 2011 SOIL FERTILITY EVALUATION OF COFFEE Coffea spp PRODUCTION SYSTEMS AND MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE BARAHONA PROVINCE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC P A N ez A Pimentel I Almonte D Sotomayor Ramirez N Martinez A P rez and C M C spedes Investigadores Instituto Dominicano de Investigaciones Agropecuarias y Forestales IDIAF Avenida Imbert 5 Las Carolinas La Vega Rep blica Dominicana Catedr tico del Departamento de Ciencias Agroambientales Colegio de Ciencias Agr colas Universidad de Puerto Rico Recinto Mayagiiez Puerto Rico Magister en Ecolog a y Medio Ambiente Universidad Pedro Henr quez Ure a Santo Domingo Rep blica Dominicana Corresponding author pnunez idiaf gov do ABSTRACT Reported yields in most coffee farms of the Barahona province in the Dominican Republic are relatively low lt 290 kg ha parchment coffee In general coffee producers do not use diagnostic techniques such as soil testing This fact prevents them from identifying the limiting factors especially nutrients complicates the work of coffee cultural management practices and potentially reduces productivity and coffee quality This study was designed to diagnose the fertility level of soils in coffee farms in the area of Barahona in 96 farms within an area of 637 hectares and design a nutrient management strategy Soils from each farm were sampled and anal
14. and sieved to pass a 2 mm mesh sieve Soils were analyzed for soil fertility characteristics following methodology outlined in Page et al 1982 The pH was determined in a ratio 1 2 soil water using a potentiometer The organic matter OM was measured by the Walkey and Black method potassium dichromate oxidation The electrical conductivity was determined on the supernatant obtained from a 1 2 soil water suspension using a conductivity bridge The total nitrogen TN was measured using the Kjeldahl method Available P was extracted using the Mehlich III extractant followed by quantification in a UV Vis spectrophotometer The exchangeable bases were measured by the extraction with NH OAC followed by quantification using atomic absorption Exchangeable acidity was extracted with 1M KCI followed by the quantification of Al and H by titration The micronutrients iron Fe copper Cu manganese Mn and 129 Diagnosis of soil fertility coffee Nu ez et al zinc Zn were determined by the method of digestion with nitric perchloric acid by followed by quantification by atomic absorption We calculated the effective cation exchange capacity ECEC based on the sum of the bases and exchangeable acidity Aditional relations such as Ca Mg Mg K Ca Mg K sodium saturation percentage SSP and aluminum saturation percentage ASP were calculated The texture was measured in the laboratory using a hydrometer Bouyucos Page
15. as y Forestales IDIAF Barahona Rep blica Dominicana P rez A Cespedes C N ez P 2008 Caracterizaci n f sica qu mica y biol gica de enmiendas org nicas aplicadas en la producci n de cultivos en Rep blica Dominicana R C Suelo Nutr Veg 8 10 29 Torres D Rodr guez N Yendis H Florentino A Zamora F 2006 Cambios en algunas propiedades qu micas del suelo seg n el uso de la tierra en el sector el cebollal Estado Falc n Venezuela Bioagro 18 123 128 Vicente Chandler J Abru a F Bosque Lugo R and Silva S 1968 Intensive coffee culture in Puerto Rico Bolet n 211 Universidad de Puerto Rico Mayag ez Estaci n Experimental Agr cola 4p 140
16. availability as these are below suggested critical levels Because the exchangeable Ca availability is very high in relation to Mg and K availability as evidenced by Ca Mg and Ca Mg K ratios The soils may benefit from the addition of fertilizer containing moderate Mg and K concentrations The soils had adequate P 134 J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 11 1 127 140 2011 Table 4 Eigenvalues and proportion of explained variance calculated from the correlation matrix Proportion of explained variance Components 2 Eigenvalue Absolute Cumulative 1 12 33 0 62 0 62 2 2 82 0 14 0 76 3 1 68 0 08 0 84 4 1 23 0 06 0 90 5 0 73 0 04 0 94 6 0 51 0 03 0 96 7 0 27 0 01 0 98 8 0 18 0 01 0 99 9 0 12 0 01 0 99 10 0 09 4 7E 03 1 00 11 0 03 1 3E 03 1 00 12 0 01 4 7E 04 1 00 13 0 01 3 5E 04 1 00 14 0 00 0 00 1 00 15 0 00 0 00 1 00 16 0 00 0 00 1 00 17 0 00 0 00 1 00 18 0 00 0 00 1 00 19 0 00 0 00 1 00 20 0 00 0 00 1 00 21 0 00 0 00 1 00 and micronutrient availability thus encountered in soils from Plat n and supplementation with these may not be needed Soils from class B were generally acid with adequate soil OM and total N contents Coffee orchards in soils from Monteada Nueva La Cienaga and Los Patos may not need repeated P applications yet P deficiency may be Bahoruco These soils are adequately balanced in terms of exchangeable basic cations but may need to be supplemented with K and Mg Monteada Nueva La
17. ce Table 4 The first component has the higher explanatory power of the data In this component positive values for soil pH EC exchangeable bases ECEC Ca Mg Mg K OM and total N group 1 are observed more or less in similar proportions other variables such as Na saturation percentage Al saturation percentage Fe Mn Zn and P are grouped in opposing areas of the former group There is a high correlation between the components and variables which assures the representativeness of the variables The magnitude of the values is associated with desirable and un desirable soil characteristics As these properties are linked to the concept of nutrient availability high values in the variables of the first group are linked to adequate soil fertility The second component explains 14 0 of the total variability If this component is associated with the first it may indicate that the soils have adequate acidity Na saturation percentage Al saturation percentage and Cu and a few have problems of acidity or salinity Table 4 The analysis discriminates two different site categories as opposite positions Figure 1 On the left figure shows related to CP1 sites with content items associated with soil salinity and acidity levels including Monteada Nueva La Lanza Bahoruco La Cienega Los Patos and Plat n Items associated with fertility rates differ on the right vertical axis given by CPI which relate to locations such as Breton
18. crease in soil CEC which can serve to retain and increase the reserve of soil cations improves soil structure physics and soil water relations Torres et al 2006 Soils with higher OM content are associated with increased population and diversity of microorganisms Brechelt 2008 A practice that is beneficial to increase levels of soil OM is the management of shade trees by pruning Although some shade trees provide additional income by harvesting fruit N fixing species are those that will be most beneficial for increasing soil OM Marques ef al 2003 The selection of the shade tree and the management of it are important factors to consider in the establishment of sustainable coffee production of high yields Montenegro 2005 reported that the association of inga Inga vera and poppy Erythina poeppigiana are very favorable for nitrogen fixation in the coffee The application of compost and planting of vegetatative cover are other alternatives to improve the supply of OM Although Perez et al 2008 highlights the difficulty of balancing a program based solely on organic amendments because the inability to match crop uptake to nutrient supply Organic amendments have other positive soil functions such as improving nutrient use efficiency and in improving water availability Marques et al 2003 CONCLUSIONS Duicela 2002 has shown that knowledge of the soil physical and chemical characteristics under coffee production
19. ctive cation exchange capacity ECEC ranged from 4 67 to 46 3 cmol kg and ratios of Ca Mg were between 4 and 20 very similar to the Mg K ratios in the range of 6 to 17 The Ca Mg K ratios were high 27 to 194 Na and Al saturation indices were in EET Table 3 Mean values of soil chemical properties of the coffee by locations in Barahona n 96 pH1 2 EC emol kg mg kg OM TN Locations water dSm Ca Mg K Na H Al ECEC Ca Mg Mg K Ca Mg K ASP Al SSP Na Fe Mn Cu Zn P Monteada Nueva 4 79 0 27 2 26 0 55 0 09 0 12 1 64 4 67 4 10 6 17 31 46 2 60 2 60 230 87 131 01 17 51 5 88 23 00 3 29 0 35 La Ci naga 4 61 0 20 4 67 1 08 0 20 0 26 048 6 69 4 11 5 43 27 85 9 30 4 94 768 00 73 60 6 14 13 34 40 31 5 99 0 34 Los Patos 5 43 0 25 11 01 1 46 0 23 0 37 0 30 13 36 6 85 6 48 51 23 4 17 3 73 485 30 55 28 5 50 3 80 24 23 7 71 0 47 Plat n 5 06 0 18 7 64 1 76 0 21 0 37 041 10 39 4 35 8 53 45 65 3 98 3 57 182 56 82 69 3 52 4 82 11 03 9 70 0 47 La Lanza 5 91 0 55 16 22 1 40 0 20 0 22 035 1840 10 16 6 81 82 52 5 27 1 60 165 87 32 55 9 52 3 56 20 14 4 68 0 52 Bahoruco 4 53 0 13 2 90 0 90 0 12 0 28 0 81 5 00 2 90 7 64 30 98 20 40 6 65 435 09 52 003 3 91 3 16 13 49 5 24 0 28 Polo 7 93 0 51 35 39 3 56 0 21 0 24 0 00 39 40 11 17 17 25 194 44 0 00 0 61 10 01 120 1 33 1 11 15 00 4 84 0 34 Los Charquitos 7 69 0 92 43 43 2 23 0 45 0 28 0 00 46 39 20 24 5 54 113 68 0 00 0 60 7 42 6 20 13 23 3 84 638 9 52 0 73 Chene 6 06 0 43 26 50 2 70 0 33 0 42 0 10
20. g management In all farms inga Inga vera was the dominant shade species and to a lesser extent poppy Erythina poeppigiana cedar Cedrela odorata avocado Persea americana several species of citrus Citrus spp royal palm Roystonea hispaniolana and fig tree Ricinus communis Most coffee plantations are inter cropped with banana Musa AAA and is used to supplement farmer s income when coffee is not being 131 Diagnosis of soil fertility coffee Nu ez et al harvested Other minor inter cropped crops were yam Xantosoma spp squash Sechium edule cassava Manihot esculenta and plantain Musa AAB All farmers control weeds manually or with selective herbicide All farmers control the coffee borer Hypothenemus hampei using recommendations made by the Dominican Coffee Council CODOCAFE which are a combination of cultural practices and the use of traps The other pests or diseases of the coffee are not considered economically important and are not managed Soil texture varied among farms About 52 of soils were predominantly clayey 21 were silt loam 16 were clay loam 10 4 were loamy and 1 of the farms were sandy loam Table 2 The representative colors of the soils in the Barahona province are red 2 5YR4 6 2 5YR4 8 7 5R4 6 yellowish brown 10YR5 6 yellowish red SYR4 6 SYRS5 6 brown 7 5YR4 2 7 5YR4 3 7 5YR4 4 reddish brown 2 5YR4 4 dark brown 10YR3 3 7 5YRS5 6 10YR
21. he distribution of cases by location was based on proportion of farms and area occupied by location Las Guazaras 7 Santa Helena 9 Bahoruco 6 Las Ci naga 12 Polo 3 Breton 10 Monteada Nueva 1 La Lanza 7 Los Charquitos 8 Plat n 1 Leonardo 7 Los Patos 7 Maria Teresa 5 Chene 7 and El Pino 6 Each farm was georeferenced with GPS model Garmin GPS 76 Garmin International Inc Olathe KS A survey was prepared and personally supplied to each farmer in order to characterize current yields agronomic practices and other related information for example weed control pest management practices soil nttp es wikipedia org wiki Barahona Rep C3 BAblica_Dominicana conservation practices extent of shade tree pruning coffee tree pruning and fertilization or manure management practices Soils were sampled to a depth of 30 cm with bore or cutting blade A composite sample from each farm was gatherd by taking six subsamples from each of the three main geomorphologic positions shulder backslope foot toe slope at the farm Two subsamples were gathered from each geomorphologic position All leaves and other surface debris were removed by hand The six sub samples were homogenized to obtain a composite sample of 2 kg Samples were placed in previously identified plastic bags and sent to the laboratory for analisis within two weeks Soil characteristics Soil samples were air dried
22. l and the remaining 19 were at or below 700 m a s l The average soil slope range was between 0 5 and 20 However on occasion some slopes of over 50 or more were identified and predominated in Guindadero and El Membrillo in Bahoruco locations Most of the farms were planted to Caturra and Typica variety The highest percentage 69 of farms had Typica coffee and a smaller percentage 31 had Caturra The highest coffee parchment yields were reported in Los Patos 501 kg ha Monteada Nueva 464 kg ha and Maria Teresa 315 kg ha These yields are slightly higher than those reported nationally for parchment coffee of 290 kg ha The reported yields in the remaining locations were lower than the national average lt 200 kg ha parchment coffee A possible reason for the low yields is that farmers do not fertilize adequately there is no structured agronomic management program including pest management pruning re planting lack of manpower and reduction in international prices coffee all of which discourage the farmers to use available technology Table 1 Coffee plantation management and soil description The coffee farmers that were surveyed did not use chemical fertilizers About 16 of farms carried out some type of practice J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 11 1 127 140 2011 Table 1 Ranges of elevation slope yields and crop area n 96 Locations Altitude Slope Yield Cultivated a
23. r soil OM and total N contents Soil test P was in the medium category The main soil fertility constraint in these soils appeared to be the high soil pH which may influence micronutrient availability In fact these two groups of 136 J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 11 1 127 140 2011 Euclidean distance La Lanza Los Patos Platon i Monteada Nueva i La Cienaga Bahoruco il Polo Los Charquitos El Pino Chene o H Mar a Teresa Los Leonardos Breton Santa Elena La Guazara Z 0 00 1 37 274 4 10 5 47 Figure 2 Distribution of the coffee communities of Barahona in relation to the groups formed by cluster analysis soils were the ones along with Breton that had low soil Fe Mn and Zn availability Although exchangeable Ca was high Mg and K were at or above sufficiency levels in Los Charquitos so that Mg and K are not expected to be limiting crop production Soils from Polo may need supplementation with K Fertilizer recommendations for these groups of soils should include formulations having moderate P K and Mg concentrations and should contain special blends of micronutrients Nutrient management in these soils should consider sources that have the potential to increase soil acidity such as organic residue application fresh manures and ammonium based fertilizers El Pino Chene Maria Teresa Los Leonardos Breton Santa Elena and La Gu
24. rea m a s l kg ha ha La Gu zara 641 1040 0 40 116 291 1 8 12 5 Santa Elena 674 837 0 45 58 175 2 0 3 1 Bahoruco 493 714 0 50 59 255 2 2 6 3 La Cienaga 448 855 0 30 80 400 1 9 56 3 Polo 703 721 0 5 112 416 1 0 4 4 Bret n 717 1063 0 30 48 280 2 5 12 5 Monteada 1161 1161 0 10 464 3 25 Nueva La Lanza 891 1139 0 20 96 400 2 5 25 0 Los Charquitos 1193 1279 0 40 64 176 1 9 4 4 Plat n 309 10 120 3 16 Leonardo 563 893 0 30 96 320 3 1 9 4 Los Patos 710 937 0 30 48 2000 1 9 25 0 Mar a Teresa 578 819 0 35 160 560 1 3 9 4 Chene 807 1035 0 25 96 400 1 3 52 8 El Pino 948 995 0 25 80 336 2 5 9 4 Only one sample was taken so it appears a single value and not the range 69 of the area is dedicated to coffee Typica 8 80 years and 31 of coffee Caturra 1 40 years None of the producers made chemical fertilizers organic fertilizer made only 7 7 29 associated with the use of organic amendments in solid or liquid form in the form of plant residues or animal manures Therefore the vast majority of farmers depend on the capacity of the soil and recycling of plant materials to supply nutrients to the crop About 78 of farms do not use any soil conservation practice All farms had some type of shade in the form of fruit trees or evergreen secondary forest The shading extent was not quantified The majority of farmers 92 carry out some form shadin
25. s and other soil fertility limiting factors and to refine management options for these agroforestry systems in the Barahona Province MATERIALS AND METHODS Experimental site and description area The Barahona Province has an extension of 1 639 km It is located between latitudes 18 40 and 18 12N and longitudes 71 17 and 71 21 W southwest of the Dominican Republic The area has an altitude between 700 and 128 J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 11 1 127 140 2011 1200 m a s l has a temperature annual range of 17 and 221 C with an annual average of 26 C The annual rainfall varies between 655 and 2296 mm P rez et al 2002 The coffee cultivated area in the Barahona Province is 11 082 ha with about 3 565 participating farmers CODOCAFE 2002 Most of the area 98 6 or 30 710 ha is in arabica cofee C arabica whith the remainder 1790 ha is planted to robusta coffee C canephora Farm survey and soil sampling The fifteen coffee production areas of the Provice were identified from which 96 farms were selected The farms were identified based on the 2001 National Coffee Census CODOCAFE 2001 The sample size was computed using the software InfoStat 2008 with an error of 10 considering the total number of coffee farms 3 565 farms in an area of 11 082 ha Specific location of each farm was made using using topographic sheets for the area All farm visits were made from April to July 2009 T
26. se exports For this same period the annual value of bean exports has increased from US 6 8 to US 17 million which represents an increase of 150 in export value CODOCAFE 2010 In the 2009 national coffee production recorded an increase of 6 65 compared to 2008 while the export value of 137 580 quintals of green coffee increased by 32 71 over that in 2009 for a value of US 20 9 million The estimated production of parchment coffee is between 600 000 and 700 000 quintals 27 273 to 31 818 metric tons The Dominican Republic has a_ coffee production area of 132 500 ha occupied by 50 000 farmers CODOCAFE 2002 A sustainable system of coffee production should prevent soil erosion and contribute to the preservation of forests and their associated habitat Martinez 2010 This system should also produce environmental benefits such as conservation of flora and fauna provides protection and shelter for native and migratory species of birds increase the scenic value of the field and improve air quality Hergoualc h et al 2008 Coffee is a crop that is produced under a variety of growing conditions and is widely cultivated in tropical climates CENICAFE 1999 with similar conditions to those in the Dominican Republic Vicente Chandler et al 1968 The coffee production zone in the Dominican Republic has average annual temperatures between 17 and 30 C rainfall ranging between 1000 and 2400 mm and altitudes between 2
27. yzed for soil fertility parameters A survey was provided to farmers that permitted the collection of information regarding yields management practices and landscape features Soils in the area were predominantly clayey Soil pH varied between 4 61 and 7 69 and soil organic matter ranged between 3 29 and 10 9 Exchangeable potassium levels were classified as deficient in all areas The clustering of results identified two main components which accounted for 76 of the variability of the data and the grouping into five communities by similarity of features The results show that soil testing of this coffee coffee growing region can be used as a tool to diagnose the soil fertility status and guide them in implementing management and fertilization recommendations Keywords soil fertility yield coffee fertility diagnostic Dominican Republic INTRODUCTION product for export after cocoa Bean exports from Dominican Republic have stabilized in the last 4 years 2006 2009 The production of coffee Coffea spp has of great economic and social importance at local regional and global levels In the Dominican Republic coffee is second most important agricultural with an average of 122 000 quintals 1 quintal 45 5 kg of market coffee per 127 Diagnosis of soil fertility coffee Nu ez et al year after averaging only 61 000 quintals in the years 2004 and 2005 Said amount represents an increase of about 100 in the volume of the
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search