Brazilian literature lacks data on soil and water loss by water erosion in perennial crops although such data would be essential for conservation planning and erosion modeling studies. Data of soil and water loss under natural rainfall (July 1960 to June 1972) in Pindorama, State of São Paulo, Brazil, were used to calculate the soil loss ratio (SLR) and C factor for the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) in coffee (Coffea arabica L.) planted in five spacings (3.0 x 0.5 m, 3.0 x 1.0 m, 3.0 x 2.0 m, 3.0 x 3.0 m, and 4.0 x 2.0 m). The crop cycle was divided in two stages: from planting to 60 months and from 60 to 144 months, on an Arenic Ultic Orthoxic Tropudalf with an average slope of 0.100 m m-1. Results showed that: (a) the annual average soil and water losses for coffee plantations are 4 Mg ha-1 and 18 mm respectively; (b) the SLR values for the coffee tree are 0.1346, 0.0883, 0.1015, 0.1422, and 0.1001 Mg ha-1 Mg-1 ha for the spacings 3.0 x 0.5 m, 3.0 x 1.0 m, 3.0 x 2.0 m, 3.0 x 3.0 m, and 4.0 x 2.0 m respectively; (c) the C Factor values for the same spacing are, respectively, 0.1354, 0.0866, 0.0995, 0.1412 and 0.1004 Mg ha-1 Mg-1 ha; (d) the SLRs and C Factor values varied greatly among the spacings as well as among the crop phases, indicating a strong effect of the row spacing and plant cover; (e) the spacing of 3.0 x 1.0 was the most effective to control water erosion in coffee.
water erosion; conservation tillage; USLE
