Nitrogen availability modulating the growth of improved genotypes of Coffea canephora

Abstract

Studies quantifying the effect of the nitrogen over the growth of genotypes of Conilon coffee contribute to improve the fertilization management. Thus, this study was developed to evaluate the growth of improved genotypes of Coffea canephora Pierre ex Froehner submitted to nitrogen fertilization. Six improved genotypes of C. canephora, from different groups of ripening cycles, were grown without nitrogen fertilization or with fertilization at level of 0.625 g kg-1 of soil, cultivated in greenhouse, following a completely randomized design, with four replications. The plant growths were evaluated considering the plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves and relative growth rate. Nitrogen fertilization was able to promote higher growth, as well as, in general, a higher relative growth rate of all genotypes. Differentiation among genotypes was observed for their responses to each of the evaluated parameters. Noteworthy are the genotypes 77, in leafiness, and 67 in plant height and stem diameter, which presented higher growth compared to other genotypes, with or without nitrogen fertilization