Yield mapping and variable rate of fertilizers for coffee in Brazil.

摘要

Coffee was introduced in Brazil in the 18th century and it was, for a long time, the most important economical activity influencing the Brazilian colonization and development. It still involves about ten million people in its production chain, even though it was partially supplanted by several other economical activities. The search for higher yield and quality demands the adoption of new technologies such as precision agriculture. In order to demonstrate usefulness of precision agriculture, this study compared the effects of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilization, at variable rates of fertilizer compared to constant rate in the coffee yield in two experimental fields. The experiment was conducted constant and variable rate in each sequential row in the entire field, using a customized fertilizer application machine. In two fields, the variable rate of coffee fertilizer management offered a significant increase in yield when compared to the constant rate normally used by farmers, indicating that precision agriculture techniques may be a solution for yield improvements.