Soil correction can improve coffee production

Brazil's 2025 coffee harvest is expected to be 4,4% smaller than last year's, according to the latest estimate released by the Brazilian National Supply Company (Conab). Adversities in the climate, such as high temperatures at the beginning of the year and lack of rain during the flowering phase, are expected to result in a coffee harvest of 51,8 million bags. Last year, the harvest was 54,2 million bags. 

The challenging scenario found in the field has led coffee growers to seek alternatives to improve the production capacity of their coffee plantations. In Timburí (SP), rural producer Claiton Sandro Corcovia is going against Conab's estimates, after correcting the soil on his property. 

After analyzing the soil on his plantation, Corcovia applied micronized limestone and obtained excellent results. He expects to harvest 125 bags/ha for this year's harvest. In 2024, the coffee grower only harvested 60 bags/ha. 

According to chemist Cláudio Monteiro, from Massari Mineradora, micronized limestone has the ability to percolate (pass liquid through a medium to filter it or extract substances) in the soil profile and neutralize toxic aluminum by raising the pH, to remove acidity, thus correcting the terrain. 

Monteiro explains that, in the case of the Corcovia coffee plantation, the company's technicians analyzed the soil, which is seven years old, and noticed high acidity, which could be damaging the coffee plants. The recommended product is based on micronized limestone, in addition to other elements. 

"A mixture of limestones was also created, which has an adequate granulometric distribution so that the larger particles can contribute to the residual power of the product in the soil over time. With this, the concentration of calcium and magnesium (from the limestone) and also sulfur (from the mixture of agricultural gypsum and elemental sulfur) on the surface and subsurface was increased", he states. 

Phosphorus to raise soil pH 

After applying the product, technicians also observed an increase in the soil pH, resulting in the release of the phosphorus nutrient that was trapped in the soil. 

The mixture used in the producer's coffee plantation also contained the natural rock Ulexite, extracted from Bolivia, which has the gradual-acting element boron in its chemical composition. 

"There is no doubt that the plantation also responded to the action of the Boron element. The seven-year-old coffee plantation showed an excellent response, leading us to estimate that it will reach between 120 and 125 bags per hectare in this harvest. Now we have to wait until May of this year to measure productivity," Monteiro highlights. For comparison purposes, the Brazilian average for the 2025 harvest will be 28 bags per hectare, according to Conab's estimate. 

For the producer, the use of the product brought hope of improving his performance in a difficult harvest. "Since we started carrying out adequate soil correction, I noticed that production has improved considerably and the appearance of the crop as well," says Corcovia. 

The Massari chemist emphasizes that a new dose of the product will be applied to the plantation, due to the large export of nutrients that is expected to occur. "This time, phosphorus extracted from a rock in Peru, popularly known as Bayovar (reactive natural phosphate - FNR), will be added to the mixture, as well as a source of potassium from natural rock and zinc," he adds.