Coffee plant calls for quick post-harvest product action to maintain productivity

After coffee harvesting, the plant reaches a stressful condition, especially in mechanized harvesting areas where machines damage the plant, breaking branches and causing defoliation. The hormonal change, caused by fruit maturation, through the increase in the hormone ethylene, which occurs in the stage prior to harvest, further intensifies the stress condition in the plant. Therefore, after harvesting the grains, it is necessary to use good management strategies so that the plant regains its vigor and becomes productive again in the following harvest.

Rene Staut, agronomist and market development coordinator at Fertiláqua, explains that the physiology and metabolism aspects of the plant aim to focus its resources on vegetation and reproduction, but when the plant is stressed, such as in the post-harvest period, it will have other priorities. “The plant will need to work its entire metabolism to be able to combat the stress it is experiencing physiologically. So, the sooner the plant recovers, through the tools and conditions that the producer gives it, the more optimized its system will be so that it can return to a good vegetative area and good production level”, he advises.

The loss of the coffee plant is not common, as this crop has high regenerative power. However, the longer the recovery of this plant takes, the more limited and less productive it will be. In other words, proper management at the right time ensures that the plant is highly productive and its fruits are of high quality. To do this, it is necessary to constantly work on the physiology and metabolism of the plant, and not just the physiology of extraction.

“When we work on physiology and metabolism, we are optimizing the entire plant process and all its external factors, which we often have no control over, such as rainfall – which is the main damage caused by stress in crops across the country”, he warns. Rene adds: “The most important point is: when we work on plant physiology and metabolism, we are providing conditions so that the plant can maximize its resources and reduce its barriers, given the internal and external factors of good production”.

The engineer explains that the use of anti-stress products with amino acids is highly recommended to help the plant, both in its development phase and for post-harvest and recovery from the stress period. “A good anti-stress product with ready-made amino acids provides conditions for the plant to combat reactive oxygen species that are capable of oxidizing the plant, through the amino acids present and enzymatic precursors”, he highlights.

The origin of stress in coffee plants occurs because molecules known as ROS, which normally occur in the plant, once accumulated, become toxic to cells and cause internal damage to the plant. However, although there is an antioxidant system produced naturally by the plant to combat this condition, the use of antioxidant products acts with greater potency and agility as inhibitors of these ROS. “To have these ROS-inhibiting enzymes, we need enzyme precursors – nutrients that the plant needs to absorb to produce these enzymes, they are: copper, manganese, iron and zinc. Furthermore, we have amino acids that share this same function.

Copper-based products should be combined with anti-stress products and amino acids, according to Rene. “One product would enhance the other, but copper-based products, in addition to having a nutritional function, act as a healing agent, bactericide and fungicide. Therefore, the producer must continue using it. Anti-stress products, amino acids and enzyme precursors will complement, offering the plant other tools to combat stress”, he concludes.