The cultivation of walnut- macadamia is economically profitable and is an option for coffee arborization in the different regions, however there is an restriction for the management, the coffee harvesting dates do not coincide with the macadamia. The objective of this paper is to estimate the probable dates of flowering and natural fruit fall (harvesting) for various coffee growing regions in the Zona da Mata and South of Minas Gerais, East and South of Säo Paulo and Espírito Santo. We used time series data of maximum and minimum air temperature (ºC) and precipitation (mm) from 18 meteorological stations that have coffee plantations and according are climatically suitable for macadamia. Using monthly data of air temperature, total precipitation we calculated potential evapotranspiration and sequential water balance and the sum of degree-days of all locations. The harvest dates of macadamia nuts were determined according to the periods that prevent the harvesting of coffee dates and also times where there occurrence of precipitation (> 10 mm). Regions with greater precocity were Säo Mateus, ES and Vitoria, ES, and late regions were Barbacena, MG, Caldas, MG and Campos do Jordäo, SP. For all analyzed locations there was no problem in using walnut macadamia as arborization, since harvesting does not occur while the coffee except in Campos do Jordao. Any rainfall during harvest can hasten and hinder the process.
Arborization; thermal index; water balance
