Microclimatic alterations in a conilon coffee crop grown shaded by green dwarf coconut trees

Abstract

Microclimatic measurements (photosynthetically active radiation - PAR, temperature and relative humidity of air and wind speed) were made in a Conilon coffee crop (Coffea canephora Pierre), grown in two different conditions: shaded by dwarf green coconut trees (Cocus nucifera L.) and unshaded. The experiment was carried out at São Mateus, Espírito Santo State, Brazil (18º 45’S; 40º 11’ W; 70 meters), between October 2008 and June 2009, aiming to show the effects of shading crop system into the microclimate. The obtained results had inside shown differences in the transmission of PAR in the shaded crop, with variations of 58 to 80% and 57 to 86% when compared the two episodes of sampling. The average transmission of PAR caused by green dwarf coconut trees varied of 73 to 70% during the episodes of sampling. The wind speed was reduced by 35% at the shaded crop. The differences in the transmission of PAR and the incidence of winds produced different values of temperature and relative humidity of the air with the greatest effect during day-light values period and at the sampling at coconut tree rows, where the average maximum temperature was up to 1.7 ºC lower than the unshaded ones.