Relationship between coffee yield and management practices in Cienfuegos province, central Cuba

Abstract

Different management practices will differentiate the different coffee production systems and determine their production and yield. The objective of this study was to evaluate their relationship with the productive yields of a coffee-growing area in the Cienfuegos province, Cuba. Nine coffee plantations were studied between 1996 and 2014, in which the relationship of yield with age was evaluated, and management tasks (shade regulation, sanitation pruning, manual de-shrubbing and cleaning) with their yield. The shade of the coffee plantations was described from plots with a radius of 25 m. For each tree present, the following were recorded: trunk diameter at breast height, total height, height of the first branch and crown diameter. In most fields, yields decreased significantly. The age of the fields at the beginning of the study varied between 4.2 and 47 years. Yield was correlated with the agricultural activities evaluated, the age of the fields and the density of the plantations. To increase productivity, it is necessary to implement management actions that counteract the lack of inputs that affect the Cuban coffee sector.

Keyword: Coffee yield, Alienation coefficient, Coffee shaded.