Increasing coffee flowering and berry setting
In order to increase overall coffee yield, the coffee tree flowering and thereby berry setting, needs to be optimized.
Supply nutrition through fertilizer is needed to reach target coffee yield.
Crop Nutrition and Coffee Flowering and Berry Setting
Nitrogen
The importance of nitrogen to coffee yield has been confirmed across a wide range of trials in the major coffee producing areas. As well as boosting healthy leaf production through maintaining high leaf concentrations, nitrogen also has a role to play in maximizing flower numbers.
Phosphorus
Where phosphorus is naturally low or strongly fixed in soils, phosphorus-fertilizer increases berry fruit setting and yield. Responses of up to 150 P2O5kg/ha have been seen on low-phosphorus available soils. However, where phosphorus is applied in excess – as in the Cuban trial – luxury phosphorus uptake creates imbalance with other nutrients, thereby restricting yield.
Boron
Boron is associated with carbohydrate metabolism and the synthesis of nucleic acids. As a result, where boron is deficient, rooting flowering and fruit set is poor. When using foliar boron, trials suggest that best coffee yield increases come from applications made both before and post flowering, preferably in combination with zinc.
