​Circular planting of coffee trees with central pivot

In Brazil, coffee irrigation began around 1946, through experimentation and research carried out by the Campinas Agronomic Institute (IAC). It only became important after 1984, as a result of the implementation of coffee plantations in areas considered marginal in terms of the climatic parameter of water deficit stipulated by the national climate zoning of the extinct Brazilian Coffee Institute (IBC) and the climatology section of the Campinas Agronomic Institute ( IAC).

In these marginal areas, Arabica coffee is located in parts of the Cerrado regions of Minas Gerais (Triângulo, northwest and northeast), the Cerrado of Goiás (East), the Cerrado of Bahia (West), some regions of the state of Mato Grosso (Chapada da Petrovina) , Chapada Diamantina in Bahia, rural in the state of Pernambuco, Serra do Baturité in the state of Ceará. For Robusta coffee, popularly called conilon, the marginal regions are located in the north of the state of Espírito Santo and the south of the state of Bahia.

In general, coffee tree irrigation is carried out using two methods: sprinkler and localized irrigation. The sprinkler systems used to irrigate this crop are as follows: conventional mobile sprinklers (with small, medium and cannon sprinklers) or fixed (which includes the mesh sprinkler system), self-propelled and central pivot. Due to aspects related to energy consumption, labor requirements and other operational aspects, the most viable sprinkler irrigation systems have been conventional (mainly the mesh type) and central pivot. Regarding localized irrigation, the most used systems are drip, due to its technical characteristics that allow irrigation with great precision, saving water and energy, and polyethylene tapes (system also known as “tripe”), mainly due to the lower implementation cost.

The largest concentration of irrigated coffee areas is found in the Cerrado of Minas Gerais, with a predominance of irrigation systems using laser perforated tubes (guts) and cannons (or self-propelled/winding reels), carrying out the so-called “rescue or rescue irrigation”. In what are considered “new coffee frontiers", such as the west and south of Bahia, northeast of Minas Gerais and east of Goiás, the predominance is of technological irrigation, with the use of central pivot and drip systems. The central pivot system is used by corporate coffee growers, with a predominance of plantations exceeding 100 ha, and the drip system used on small and medium-sized properties, complementing central pivot areas and in areas with topography unsuitable for a mechanized sprinkler system.

The first central pivots used for coffee were adapted from other crops with full-area irrigation, that is, both in the coffee rows and between the rows. Despite making commercial coffee farming viable in the cerrado regions, the “conventional” central pivot system still had the inconvenience of applying large volumes of water and irrigating between the coffee rows. From these difficulties, an innovation emerged, adapted from irrigation of citrus groves in the United States with localized emitters, irrigating only in the root absorption range of citrus plants. Adapting this technology, Brazilian researchers and consultants developed an extremely interesting technique for irrigating coffee trees with the central pivot, with planting carried out in circle with emitters located over the coffee lines, known as LEPA. With the creativity of the coffee grower, there were also homemade adaptations to conventional sprinklers, imitating LEPA emitters, but with hydraulic performances much lower than those of emitters that were manufactured specifically for this purpose.

In this planting system, like other planting and irrigation systems, the producer must consider that despite the advantages of irrigation, more specifically circular planting, the success of the coffee enterprise depends on the correct compliance with other practices such as nutrition, phytosanitary treatments , cultural and coffee preparation. Irrigation should never be considered the “savior of the nation”.

* André Luís Teixeira Fernandes He has a PhD in Water and Soil Engineering, Pro Dean of Research, Postgraduate Studies and Extension at the University of Uberaba – UNIUB