Efficiency and response of conilon coffee genotypes to nitrogen supply

Abstract

The objective of the study was to differentiate genotypes with higher efficiency and responsiveness to nitrogen supply, to understand how the nitrogen supply can impact the dry matter allocation and the accumulation of this nutrient in the different plant compartments of genotypes of conilon coffee, cultivated under contrasting conditions of nitrogen availability in the soil. The plants were cultivated during 150 days in pots containing 10 kg of soil, in greenhouse. The experiment was set up in a 13×2 factorial scheme, following a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. The factors were: 13 genotypes and two levels of nitrogen fertilization (0 and 100% of the N recommended level). The N supply increased between 70 and 210% of the total dry matter and between 360 and 680% of the concentration of N content in leaves of the genotypes of conilon coffee. It was possible to observe that the expression of the genotypes was modulated by the availability of N in the soil, since they presented different behaviors in the studied environments (with 0 or 100% of N supply in the soil). The genotypes CV-03, CV-07 and CV-08 were classified as non-efficient and non-responsive, while the genotypes CV- 01, CV-04 and CV-09 of conilon coffee were classified as efficient and responsive.

Keywords: Alpha parameter, Coffea canephora (Pierre ex A. Froehner), mineral nutrition