Anderson William Dominghetti

Nitrogen loss by volatilization of nitrogen fertilizers applied to coffee orchard

Ammonia volatilization (N-NH3) is one of the main pathways of Nitrogen loss reducing nitrogen use efficiency in coffee orchard. This work aimed at quantifying ammonia volatilization (N-NH3) losses from N-sources to be used in coffee plantations fertilization in Brazil. The experiment was conducted in the field on a dystrophic red latosol (Ferralsol in FAOs classification) at the Coffee Research Sector, University of Lavras, MG, Brazil. The experimental design was of complete randomized blocks with three repetitions of the following treatments: conventional urea, ammonium nitrate and urea + 0.15% Cu and 0.4% B, urea + anionic polymers, urea + elementary sulfur (S0) + polymers, and urea + plastic resin. These N sources were split into three doses of 150 kg ha-1 and band applied. The N-NH3 losses by volatilization and variations of pH (H2O) were measured, before and after N application. The N-sources contributed to reduce the soil pH, measured after the third nitrogen fertilization. The N-NH3 losses by volatilization (average from three applications) was as follows: urea + anionic polymers (35.8%) > conventional urea (31.2%) = urea + S0 + polymers (31.0%) > urea + 0.15% Cu + 0.4 % B (25.6%) > urea + plastic resin (8.6%) = ammonium nitrate (1.0%).

Critical ranges for leaf nitrogen and potassium levels in coffee fertigated at the production phase

With the aim of establishing critical ranges for the leaf nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) levels in fertigated coffee crops under production, an experiment was carried out in the experimental area of the Sector for Coffee Cultivation of the Department of Agriculture at the Federal University of Lavras, in Brazil. Treatments consisted of five levels of fertilizer applied through fertigation: 30%, 80%, 130%, 180% and 230% of the recommended amounts of N and K for rainfed coffee grown in Minas Gerais. A randomised block design with four replications was used. Critical ranges for nutrient concentrations in the leaves were established from the results of growth characteristics (plant height and stem diameter), leaf analyses and productivity. The results obtained were: a) nitrogen (g kg-1): 32.39 to 32.40 for January/February; 33.60 to 33.61 for March/April; 27.39 to 27.42 for May/June; 24.23 to 24.24 for July/August; 26.06 to 26.09 for September/October and 26.50 to 26.51 for November/December; b ) potassium (g kg-1): 20.08 to 20.14 for January/February; 17.89 to 17.91 for March/April; 15.93 to 15.96 for May/June; 15.29 to 15.35 for July/August; 16.61 to 16.64 for September/October and 20.58 to 20.64 for November/December.

Water-retaining polymer and seedling type when planting irrigated coffee

The aim of this work was to evaluate the use of a water-retaining polymer on the initial growth of coffee plants for different levels of irrigation and types of seedling. The experiment was set up in pots with a clayey soil, in a greenhouse of the Sector for Coffee Production of the Federal University of Lavras, Brazil. The experiment was arranged in a randomised block design into sub-lots with three replications, giving a total of 48 experimental units. Four levels of irrigation (25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the available water) were randomly assigned to the lots; the type of seedling (grown in bags or tubes) were randomly assigned to the sub-lots, and the use or not of the water-retaining polymer randomly assigned to the sub-sub-lots. In the treatments with water-retaining polymer, a dilution of 1.5 Kg of polymer to 400 litres of water was used at a dose of 1.5 litres of solution per plant. The following were evaluated at intervals of 60 days during the experiment (360 days from planting): stem diameter, plant height, leaf area, number of leaves and number of plagiotropic branches on the coffee plants. Hydrated water-retaining polymer favoured the growth of coffee plants under an irrigated system. Irrigation resulted in greater plant growth, with the seedlings grown in bags showing more growth than those grown in tubes.