Necessary care when pruning coffee

Different types of pruning are widely used in coffee farming as excellent tools to help renew cultivated crops. Adopting them rationally, at the appropriate time and in accordance with the intended objective is the best way to achieve success in this type of operation.

Brazil is the world's largest producer and exporter of coffee, producing approximately 30% of the world's product. However, it still suffers from the very low average production it has per unit area, with approximately 23 bags/ha. This is largely due to the characteristics found in the national coffee park, with depleted crops, very old and without due routine care (management) of great importance, such as the chemical and physical part of the cultivation soils.

However, currently, several technologies are being used with the aim of increasing productivity, recovering crops and consequently providing greater national production. In this sense, techniques such as soil analysis, leaf analysis, liming, plastering, phosphating, foliar input management, pruning and also the use of new technologies in the area of ​​fertilizers mean that low production rates can be improved. .

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Pruning is widely used in coffee farming, most of the time as one of the best tools to help renew cultivated crops. It is known that there are several types of pruning, each with its own objectives and particularities. It is possible to mention cleaning pruning, recovery pruning and production pruning.

The first point to be observed is why pruning is carried out on the farm, that is, in which situations it will be necessary. Generally, it is recommended for crops that are depleted, with skirt spillage, that is, when the crop is “girdled” by the death of the first plagiotropic branches, or also when they no longer show a response to fertilization. Also in extreme cases of adverse weather conditions, such as frost.

Making a decision about pruning or uprooting a crop has become a recurring question, and some important aspects that help with the choice must be analyzed. Pruning must be carried out in crops that have good genetics, good plant stands, good spacing and also adequate phytosanitary conditions, which will affect plant growth and consequently greater recovery of the vegetative structure. The coffee tree loses part of its roots when subjected to some type of pruning. However, when the crop has a failed stand, is affected by pests and diseases, inadequate spacing, energy converted only into growth and leaf formation, but never into grain production, the correct management to carry out is to pull out.

The correct time to carry out pruning varies greatly and must be adopted according to the cultivar, the climate, the region and also the financial conditions of the coffee grower. Above all, the type of pruning will also affect the management carried out on the crops, as well as the correct time to carry out each activity.

Receive

Recepa is a low, drastic pruning that promotes almost complete renewal of the vegetative structure of coffee trees. It is widely used in crops affected by severe frosts and depleted.

There are two types of cuttings, varying the height of the cut, which can be low (without lung), where the entire vegetative structure is eliminated and the height of the cut varies from 20 cm to 40 cm, and high (with lung), with the first ones being kept lower plagiotropic branches, where the cutting height varies between 50cm and 80cm. The cut in the orthotropic branch must be made in a bevel, thus avoiding the accumulation of water in the trunk.

Pruning must be carried out periodically to eliminate excess shoots, leaving only the most vigorous and best inserted into the stem, preserving the coffee tree's alignment. They are generally carried out when the sprouts reach approximately 20 cm, maintaining 2 stems to 4 stems.

Weed management must also be carried out to avoid smothering the shoots and competition for water, light and nutrients. Due care must be taken, in the case of chemical control, with the occurrence of herbicide drift on coffee sprouts, which causes serious phytotoxicity problems to the coffee plant.

Cleavage

Pruning is a type of high, light pruning, which causes the elimination of the upper third of the coffee tree, and is recommended for crops in the process of being closed and also with a depleted crown. It is used to enable mechanized harvesting, by reducing the size of the crop, and in the event of frost or electrical sparks. Its use is widespread, as it does not cause a sharp drop in production the following year.

There are two types of cleavage used in coffee farming, only the cutting height varies. The high neckline is made to reduce the size of the plant, with the aim of adapting it to mechanized harvesting, where the crown is in good condition, thus avoiding the “reconstruction” of the upper branches. The cutting height varies between 2,0m and 2,5m. The low neckline is carried out when the crop is damaged, in conditions of non-uniformity in the canopy or also girdled, making it necessary to reconstitute the upper part of the plant, through the neckline at a height of 1,0m to 1,2m.

Another type of necking that is not widely used is the herbaceous one, where only the apex of the plant is pruned, thus ceasing the growth of the orthotropic branch. However, there is compensatory growth of plagiotropic branches, favoring the closure of the crop.

Coffee plants that have been pruned must be subject to frequent care in relation to sprouts, which are of great importance for the further development of the coffee plant. This practice prevents excess shoots and the consequent loss of growth due to the competition they exert, as they function as drains.

Zero Harvest

The zero harvest system consists of adopting a cyclical pruning program, carried out biennially, that is, at two-year intervals. This crop management system consists of two stages, the first being through skeletonization, and the second and subsequent stage with the creation of necking. Skeleting consists of pruning the plagiotropic (lateral) branches at a distance ranging from 20cm to 30cm from the orthotropic branch in the upper part of the plant, and from 30cm to 50cm in the “lower” parts, with the aim of completely renewing the lateral branches. . 

Some care must be taken when carrying out this type of pruning, because if the plagiotropic branches are cut before the bud “series head”, there will be no sprouting, thus resulting in the death of the branch.

It is recommended that pruning be carried out as soon as possible, as the relationship between season and productivity is direct. Crops Pruned earlier, preferably from June onwards, they respond better and are more productive.

After pruning, it is necessary to crush plant residues, so that, in a certain way, the decomposition process is accelerated. The use of Brushing is essential for carrying out this management.

After the beginning of the coffee tree sprouting, it is necessary to application of cuprics to protect the health of the plant, as it has suffered a great stress, with injuries throughout its entire length. In this sense, the copper acts as a protector, thus reducing the incidence of pathogens on the culture in this initial development, when the plant is more vulnerable.

At the end of the first year of this system's biennium, there is floral differentiation and the projection of the flowering that will lead to the following harvest. Above all, due to the great vegetative development of the plant in the first year, large flowerings and consequently high productions are obtained. In several field trials with this methodology, field materials arrived reaching more than 100sc/ha, depending on the cultivar and also the pruning season.

Fertilizing

The nutritional management of crops under this system is different from conventional ones, as due to the non-production characteristic in the first year of the biennium, soil fertilization is carried out only with nitrogen, with doses varying between 300kg of N per hectare and 500kg of N per hectare. hectare. However, in the second year the opposite occurs, as the plant will only be focused on production, requiring greater attention to potassium fertilization.

Phytosanitary control

Phytosanitary control must be carried out mainly for diseases such as Phoma, rust and halo spot, as the high doses of nitrogen applied result in greater infestation of these diseases.

Phoma is the first disease to manifest itself when adequate control is not carried out, making it necessary to monitor its first signs in the year of production. Rust is also another disease that can occur in pruned coffee trees, as they are more susceptible and have a more aggressive progression curve when compared to unpruned ones.

Benefits

Among the benefits of this system, it is possible to mention the cost reduction, since the harvest (which represents up to 50% of expenses) will only be carried out in the year of production. Furthermore, the crop will have a high pending load.

It can also serve as a tool in years of low prices, by reducing costs and avoiding further investment by the coffee grower during these periods.

Because the first year's fertilization basically consists of N, the costs of these operations also become lower.

The increases in organic matter at the cultivation site are considerable, since the deposition of crop residues in the cultivation lines is large in scale, thus improving soil fertility.

The zero harvest system is widely used in Brazilian coffee farming and is expanding, as it is a tool for reducing costs and also for renewing coffee branches.

Due to the fact that there is no production in the first year of the biennium and the high production in the following year, fertilization must be carried out differently from the traditional one, following the needs of each year.

Phytosanitary management must be strictly followed, because the pruned plant will be more exposed to biotic and abiotic stresses, due to the injuries caused and also due to the subsequent vigor with which it appears at the beginning of sprouting.

Giovani Belutti Voltolini, IFSUL de Minas and Ufla; Dalyse Toledo Castanheira, Thales Lenzi Costa Nascimento, Ademilson de Oliveira Alecrim, Ricardo Nascimento L. Paulino and Tiago Teruel Rezende, Federal University of Lavras

Article published in issue 206 of Cultivar Grandes Culturas.