Growth, development, and fertilizer-15N recovery by the coffee plant

Abstract

The relationship between growth and fertilizer nitrogen recovery by perenial crops such as coffee is poorly understood and improved understanding of such relations is important for the establishment of rational crop management practices. In order to characterize the growth of a typical coffee crop in Brazil and quantify the recovery of 15N labeled ammonium sulfate, and improve information for fertilizer management practices this study presents results for two consecutive cropping years, fertilized with 280 and 350 kg ha-1 of N, respectively, applied in four splittings, using five replicates. Shoot dry matter accumulation was evaluated every 60 days, separating plants into branches, leaves and fruits. Labeled sub-plots were used to evaluate N-total and 15N abundance by mass spectrometry. During the first year the aerial part reached a recovery of 71% of the fertilizer N applied up to February, but this value was reduced to 34% at harvest and 19% at the beginning of the next flowering period due to leaf fall and fruit export. For the second year the aerial part absorbed 36% of the fertilizer N up to March, 47% up to harvest and 19% up to the beginning of the next flowering period. The splitting into four applications of the used fertilizer rates was adequate for the requirements of the crop at these growth stages of the coffee crop.