Conilon coffee cropping production associated with tree species Sterculia chicha St. Hil. ex Turpin

Abstract

The Coffea canephora is the species most planted in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. It
should be highlighted that this species is cultivated predominantly in monoculture. However,
some farmers leave some trees in the plantations when they consider that there is no competition
and these trees can bring some benefits. A property was identified in which a farmer kept
some trees of Sterculia chicha next to the coffee shrubs. The interaction of the species was
evaluated aiming to quantify the influence of the S. chicha in the production of conilon coffee.
Twenty treatments were considered, referring to the positions of the coffee, gradually distancing
from the S. chicha trees with eight replicates. For this, coffee shrubs of the same clone
were harvested in eight continuous rows in 2016. There was interference of the S. chicha in
the coffee production. The coffee shrubs near the S. chicha produced 30% less than the more
distant coffee shrubs.