Combined doses of nitrogen and phosphorus in conilon coffee plants: changes in absorption, translocation and use in plant compartments

Abstract

The knowledge of the behavior of the coffee tree regarding the combination of nutrients in the soil is important, once it allows to verify the interaction between them, allowing to improve the use efficiency of nutrients by the plants. The objective of this study was to verify the effect of combined doses of N and P on the content of nutrients, dry matter and nutritional efficiency of conilon coffee seedlings in a controlled environment. The assay was carried out in a completely randomized design, with 13 fertilization levels combined with N and P, initially based on the recommendation for studies in a controlled environment, with a sample space of 29.28 to 170.71 mg/dm³ N and 43.93 to 256.06 mg/dm³ P, with three replications. At 150 days of cultivation, the nutritional contents of leaf tissues were measured, as well as dry matter production, content of nutrients in root, shoot and total dry matter; mathematical expressions related to absorption, translocation and use efficiency were applied to study nutritional efficiency. The combination with different levels of N and P in fertilization interferes with the nutrition of Coffea canephora seedlings; the combinations 60.71-43.93 mg/dm³ and 158.92-150.00 mg/dm³ of N and P are an alternative for use in the cultivation of conilon coffee, since these combinations enabled a more efficient use of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers.

Keywords:

• Coffea canephora
• plant nutrition
• use efficiency

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to FAPES (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Espírito Santo), CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior), and CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico), for their financial support and granting scholarships for the research.

Disclosure statement

No conflict of interest was reported by the authors.