The objective of present work was study the effect of drip irrigation on production of coffee plant (Coffea arabica L) Acaiá MG-1474. The experimental design was randomized blocks, with five treatments and four replications. The treatments were: L0 = without irrigation, L40 = 40%, L60 = 60%, L80 = 80% and L100 = 100% of the evaporation from a Class A pan evaporation (ECA). An economic analysis was done for production of the years 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. The costs analysis of the irrigated treatments was based on the theory of the production costs. There was good technical efficiency, once the mean productivity of each treatment was 52.88, 66.99, 70.00, 71.93 and 79.50 bags of 60 kg per hectare, for the treatments L1, L2, L3, L4 and L0, respectively. Economic analysis showed that, for a price of R$ 212.00 per bag, the coffee production is practicable, for irrigated and non irrigated crops. A water replacement of 100% of the evaporation provided the best profit.
production cost; Acaiá MG-1474; irrigated coffee
