Efficiency of nitrogen fertilization in consortium of coffee plant and Brachiaria brizantha

• Grant number: 10/01444-1
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: September 01, 2010
• End date: August 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Crop Science
• Principal Investigator: José Laércio Favarin
• Grantee: José Laércio Favarin
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The nitrogen is a demanding nutrient by the coffee plant and the second most required by the plant, especially for the fruit. To manage the crop, the tilling and the fertilizing represent around 34 % of the total operational costs. A technology that has been used in coffee crop is planting coffee with brachiaria plants in the middle of the coffee rows. This system is used to distribute the fertilization between the coffee plants and the foraging. However, there is still no scientific results that show this system is effective especially regarding the use and efficiency of nitrogen. It is essential to know the biological growing features of the brachiaria/forraging, its contribution to coffee as organic matter and nutrient release to plant, as well as the behavior of N in plant and the best time of use for the coffee plant. As a result, the understanding of these processes is fundamental for the adoption of the system between the coffee plant and the brachiaria as a green fertilizer for coffee plants. (AU)