Chemical and Microbiological Soil Characteristics under Conventional and Organic Coffee Production Systems

• Published in: Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis Vol. 43; no. 5; pp. 847 - 864
• Main Authors: Partelli, Fábio Luiz, Vieira, Henrique Duarte, Ferreira, Enderson Petrônio de Brito, Viana, Alexandre Pio, Martins, Marco Antonio, Urquiaga, Segundo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA Taylor & Francis Group 01-03-2012; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; carbon; Coffea; Coffea canephora; Cover crops; crop production; Forest soils; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General agronomy. Plant production; Herbivores; management systems; microbial activity; microbial biomass; microbiology; nitrogen; plant nutrition; production technology; soil chemical properties; soil depth; soil fertility; soil quality; Soil science; Soil-plant relationships. Soil fertility; Soil-plant relationships. Soil fertility. Fertilization. Amendments; tillage; Production system; plant nutrition; Microbiology; Nutrition; Cover crops; Organic agriculture; Soil fertility; Cover crop; Property of soil; Conventional agriculture; Coffee
• ISSN: 1532-2416; 0010-3624; 1532-2416; 1532-4133
• DOI: 10.1080/00103624.2012.648470

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of Conilon coffee (Coffea canephora) cultivated under conventional and organic management systems on the chemical and microbiological characteristics of the soil, as compared to an Atlantic forest. Chemical soil properties, microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), microbial activity (MA), and metabolic quotient (qCO2) were determined at depths of 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm in two seasons (summer and winter). Although microbiological attributes varied according to the season and soil depth, MBC provided 54.15% of relative contribution to distinguish the treatments, followed by MBN and MA. Results indicate that the cultivation of coffee under organic management is more sustainable than under conventional system. Carbon from microbial biomass was the most important soil microbiological attribute in the clustering of the different management methods. Atlantic forest soil followed by organic coffee cultivation soil showed the best soil-quality indices.