Microclimatic alterations in a conilon coffee crop grown shaded by macadamia nut tree

Microclimatic measurements (photosynthetically active radiation - PAR, temperature and relative humidity of air and wind speed) were made in a Conilon coffee crop (Coffea canephora Pierre), grown in two different conditions: shaded by macadamia nut trees (Macadamia integrifolia Maiden & Betche) and unshaded. The experiment was carried out at Sâo Mateus, Espirito Santo State, Brazil (18°43'S; 39°54'W; 39m), between September 2008 and June 2009, aiming to show the effects of shading crop system into the microclimate. The obtained results had inside shown differences in the transmission of PAR in the shaded crop, with variations of 18 to 88% and 17 to 87% when compared the two sampling episodes . The average transmission of PAR caused by macadamia nut trees varied of 65 to 59% during the sampling episodes. The wind speed was reduced by 72% at the shaded crop. The differences in the transmission of PAR and the incidence of winds produced different values of temperature and relative humidity of the air with the greatest effect during day-light values period and at the sampling nearest point to macadamias nut trees, where the average maximum temperature was up to 2.2°C lower than the unshaded ones.

shaded; microclimate; Coffea canephora; photosynthetically active radiation