Spacial distribution of fertigated coffee root system

The development of coffee plant root system changes when subjected to drip irrigation and fertigation. This work aimed to evaluate the effects of different levels of fertigation on the development of coffee root system by drip irrigation in western Bahia. The experiment was carried out with Catuaí Vermelho IAC 144 coffee plants, of about 3.5 years of age, in the “Café do Rio Branco” farm, located in Barreiras - BA, and consisted of a complete randomized blocks design with 3 replicates. Treatments consisted of three levels of nitrogen and potassium fertilization (900/800, 600/500 and 300/250 kg ha^-1 year^-1 N and K₂O), weekly distributed, by means of fertigation, throughout the process. After the fourth harvest, coffee root system was evaluated, and root length density (RLD) and root density (RD) were determined at different sampled layers. The highest root concentration, root length density (RLD), and root density (RD) were observed in the superficial layers of soil (0-20 cm), and under the dripline (30 and 70 cm from the orthotropic branch). Results showed that the lower the N and K₂O levels, the higher was the development (RLD and RD) of the coffee root system.

Index terms:
Coffea arabica L.; irrigation; nitrogen fertilization; potassium fertilization.

Authorship

Marcelo Rossi Vicente ^**Corresponding author: marcelo.vicente@ifnmg.edu.br

Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Norte de Minas Gerais/IFNMG, Salinas, MG, BrasilInstituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Norte de Minas Gerais/IFNMGBrazilSalinas, MG, BrazilInstituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Norte de Minas Gerais/IFNMG, Salinas, MG, Brasil

Everardo Chartuni Mantovani

Universidade Federal de Viçosa/UFV, Departamento de Engenharia Agrícola, Viçosa, MG, BrasilUniversidade Federal de Viçosa/UFVBrazilViçosa, MG, BrazilUniversidade Federal de Viçosa/UFV, Departamento de Engenharia Agrícola, Viçosa, MG, Brasil

André Luís Teixeira Fernandes

Universidade de Uberaba/Uniube, Uberaba, MG, BrasilUniversidade de Uberaba/UniubeBrazilUberaba, MG, BrazilUniversidade de Uberaba/Uniube, Uberaba, MG, Brasil

Júlio César Lima Neves

Universidade Federal de Viçosa/UFV, Departamento de Solos, Viçosa, MG, BrasilUniversidade Federal de Viçosa/UFVBrazilViçosa, MG, BrazilUniversidade Federal de Viçosa/UFV, Departamento de Solos, Viçosa, MG, Brasil

Edmilson Marques Figueredo

Bahia Farm Show, Barreiras, BA, BrasilBahia Farm ShowBrazilBarreiras, BA, BrazilBahia Farm Show, Barreiras, BA, Brasil

Fábio Teixeira Delazari

Universidade Federal de Viçosa/UFV, Departamento de Fitotecnia, Viçosa, MG, BrasilUniversidade Federal de Viçosa/UFVBrazilViçosa, MG, BrazilUniversidade Federal de Viçosa/UFV, Departamento de Fitotecnia, Viçosa, MG, Brasil

^*Corresponding author: marcelo.vicente@ifnmg.edu.br

SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Universidade de Uberaba/Uniube, Uberaba, MG, BrasilUniversidade de Uberaba/UniubeBrazilUberaba, MG, BrazilUniversidade de Uberaba/Uniube, Uberaba, MG, Brasil

Bahia Farm Show, Barreiras, BA, BrasilBahia Farm ShowBrazilBarreiras, BA, BrazilBahia Farm Show, Barreiras, BA, Brasil

Figures | Tables | Formulas

Figures (2)
Tables (12)
Formulas (3)

Depth (cm)	Granulometric composition (%)			Soil density (g/cm³)	Textural classification
Depth (cm)	Sand	Silt	Clay	Soil density (g/cm³)	Textural classification
0-20	65.53	2.23	32.24	1.57	Sandy clay loam
20-40	63.37	2.86	33.78	1.57	Sandy clay loam
40-60	57.20	2.83	39.97	1.47	Sandy clay

Layers (cm)	Tension (kPa)
Layers (cm)	0.1	1	2	5	10	20	33	50	70	1540
0-20	26.85	21.80	21.19	16.88	15.13	13.93	13.49	12.71	12.10	11.16
20-40	27.00	23.35	21.54	16.56	14.85	13.82	13.34	12.76	12.22	11.39
40-60	29.72	24.99	24.14	19.27	16.57	14.93	14.36	13.51	12.72	11.84

Treatment	Levels (kg ha^-1 year^-1)		Plot	Number of monthly applications
Treatment	N	K₂O	Plot	Number of monthly applications
1	900	800	1 per week	4
2	600	500	1 per week	4
3	300	250	1 per week	4

Nutrient	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
N	10%	10%	10%	10%	5%	5%	5%	5%	10%	10%	10%	10%
K₂O	15%	15%	15%	10%	5%	0%	0%	5%	5%	10%	10%	10%

Levels (kg ha^-1 year^-1) (N/K₂O)	RLD (cm cm^-3)	RD (g dm^-3)
300/250	2.47 A	0.5545 A
600/500	1.94 B	0.4546 B
900/800	1.94 B	0.4991 AB

Layer (cm)	Levels (kg ha^-1 year^-1) (N/K₂O)
Layer (cm)	300/250	600/500	900/800
0-10	2.02 A a	1.90 A a	1.62 B a
10-20	0.55 A b	0.48 A bc	0.37 A bc
30-40	0.29 A c	0.25 A bc	0.31 A bc
50-60	0.19 A c	0.14 A c	0.17 A bc
70-80	0.16 A c	0.13 A c	0.14 A bc
90-100	0.11 A c	0.10 A c	0.11 A c

Levels (kg ha^-1 year^-1) (N/K₂O)	Distance (cm)
Levels (kg ha^-1 year^-1) (N/K₂O)	-110	-70	-30	30	70	110
Fine roots
300/250	0.5 Da	2.33 BCDa	2.63 BCDa	3.04 BCa	4.94 Aa	1.4 CDa
600/500	0.36 Ca	1.53 BCa	1.99 BCa	3.69 ABa	2.59 ABCb	1.46 BCa
900/800	0.73 Ba	2.52 A a	2.21 Aa	2.67 Aa	2.69 Ab	0.81 Ba
Medium roots
300/250	0.02 Ca	0.02 BCa	0.06 ABCa	0.06 ABCab	0.07 ABa	0.02 BCa
600/500	0.01 Ca	0.02 BCa	0.05 ABCa	0.09 ABab	0.05 ABCa	0.02 BCa
900/800	0.03 Aa	0.03 Aa	0.03 Aa	0.05 Ab	0.04 Aa	0.02 Aa

Layer (cm)	Distance (cm)
Layer (cm)	-110	-70	-30	30	70	110
Fine roots
0-10	1.7 Ea	9.37 Ca	9.03 Ca	14.48 Aa	12.33 Ba	3.94 Da
10-20	0.58 Ca	1.56 ABCb	2.47 ABCbc	2.28 ABCbc	3.27 ABCbc	1.05 BCb
30-40	0.21 Aa	0.67 Ab	1.15 Abc	0.88 Abc	2.03 Abc	0.71 Ab
50-60	0.26 Aa	0.47 Ab	0.43 Ac	0.35 Ac	1.10 Ac	0.77 Ab
70-80	0.27 Aa	0.42 Ab	0.37 Ac	0.53 Abc	1.19 Ac	0.46 Ab
90-100	0.16 Aa	0.26 Ab	0.20 Ac	0.27 Ac	0.49 Ac	0.40 Ab
Medium roots
0-10	0.01 Da	0.08 BCDab	0.12 BCab	0.19 Aa	0.11 BCab	0.03 CDa
10-20	0.03 Ba	0.03 Bab	0.08 ABabc	0.11 ABb	0.04 Bbc	0.02 Ba
30-40	0.03 Aa	0.02 Aab	0.03 Abc	0.03 Ac	0.08 Aabc	0.02 Aa
50-60	0.01 Aa	0.00 Ab	0.02 Abc	0.03 Ac	0.01 Ac	0.03 Aa
70-80	0.01 Aa	0.01 Ab	0.01 Ac	0.02 Ac	0.04 Abc	0.01 Aa
90-100	0.02 Aa	0.00 Ab	0.02 Abc	0.01 Ac	0.03 Abc	0.00 Aa