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Shade Coffee in Southeastern Brazil
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| Overview | Intercropping trees into coffee plantings increases biodiversity, lowers costs and provides natural nutrients for the coffee plant. |
| Scale | Community, farm |
| Location | Viçosa, Brazil (20.5°S, 42.5°W) |
| Elevation | 0 to 150 meters |
| Climate | Moderate continental forest climate, mild winter (Cfa- G. T. Trewartha) |
| Agricultural Region | Plantation Agriculture - G |
| Population Density | 25 - 50 persons / square kilometer |
| Principle Crops | Coffee (Coffea arabica), fruit trees (many species), maize (Zea mays), beans (Phaseolus sp.), sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) |
| Domestic Animals | none |
| Soils | latosols |
| Natural Vegetation | Semideciduous broadleaf evergreen (S) |
| Ecoregion | Rainforest altitudinal zone |
| Basic Principles addressed | Use Renewable Resources, Conserve Resources, Manage Ecological Relationships, Diversify, Maximize Long-Term Benefits |
| Page Author and Date | Rodrigo Matta-Machado with help from Chris Bley |
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Native tree species are deliberately planted between rows of coffee shrubs. Management of these trees includes pruning before the coffee flowering period, in order to avoid competition for light, water and nutrients. Trees sprout back, forming a slight canopy which protects the coffee environment, increases biodiversity and increases nutrient cycling to coffee plants. |
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Careful landscape design and management benefits coffee in shade coffee agroecosystems. Tree intercropping choices include species that fix atmospheric nitrogen, trees capable of taking up nutrients, like phosphorus, that are in otherwise unavailable forms, and deep-rooted "pumping" trees that bring up nutrients out of reach of coffee plant roots that would otherwise be leached out and unavailable. Seasonal pruning of deep-rooted "pumping trees" puts leaves and branches on the soil surface, forming a thick mulch, protecting soil from water and wind erosion. After mulch decomposition, essential nutrients are recycled and returned to the coffee plants. Shade coffee agroforestry systems increase biodiversity, helping to ameliorate associated pest and disease problems and can serve as corridors connecting natural forest fragments in the tropics. |
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Use Renewable Resources Shade trees increase biological nitrogen fixation, serve as a permanent green-manure crop helping to make on-farm soil nutrients more available to coffee. Conserve Resources Planting of perennials helps to minimize soil erosion, both by tree roots in soil and the formation of a mulch cover over soil. Manage Ecological Relationships The presence of diverse tree species helps in pest, disease and weed control, increases nutrient recycling, enhances beneficial soil biota, and provides habitats for beneficial insects. Diversify Introduction of shade trees increases biodiversity in agroecosystems in a form of agroforestry. Maximize Long-Term Benefits Trees can be harvested for firewood and timber, adding long-term value to the land output. |
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Institutions supporting shade coffee systems: CTA-ZM (Centro de Tecnologia Alternativa da Zona da Mata, Minas Gerais, Brazil) Publications: Perfecto, R. 1996. Shade Coffee: A Disappearing Refuge for Biiodiversity. BioScience 46: 598-608.
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