Evaluación de dos formas de injerto en el cultivo de café con fines de fitomejoramiento

Abstract

It is one of the most important crops worldwide, more than 80% of production is destined for export. In Ecuador it is cultivated in 23 of the 24 provinces, due to the different microclimates of the country, its major production is concentrated in the provinces of Manabí, Loja and the upper part of the province of El Oro. It is one of the few countries that produces two types of coffee: Arabica and Robusta. Geisha coffee is one of the most sought after coffees due to its organoleptic characteristics, which is why it is highly valued internationally. An alternative for the control of diseases present in the soil is to graft the seedlings, since this technique is considered to be less susceptible to the influence of nematodes. The objective of this research was to determine the most efficient graft to achieve the best growth and development of coffee seedlings in the nursery. The field study was carried out at the "Santa Inés" Experimental Farm, property of the Technical University of Machala, located in the province of "El Oro", parish "El Cambio", located at km 5.5 of the Machala-Pasaje road. For this purpose, a randomized block design was established, with two treatments, the first being the wedge graft and the second the splice graft. 15 replications were used for each treatment for the proper development of this research. The experimental unit were the special covers used in the nursery and these were taken as a plot, the seeds were sown in the field in July 2021. With the results obtained in the field, a one-factor anova was performed using the SPSS statistical program where the following variables were analyzed: percentage of lodging (%), stem height (cm), stem diameter (cm), leaf length (cm), leaf width (cm), number of leaves and root volume (cm)³. Consequently, the wedge graft obtained the highest value in the variable percentage of budding with 60%, so that the Geisha cultivar had better acceptance to this type of graft, on the contrary, the splice graft 46.66% with a difference of 13.34% between the two. The wedge graft obtained better results in the variables: stem height with 4.98 cm, stem diameter with 0.89 cm, leaf length with 1.55 cm, leaf width with 2.98 cm, number of leaves with 1.33 and root volume with 3.64 cm³, i.e. using this type of graft obtained better results in all the variables under study, while the splicing graft failed to overcome in any variable. Grafting coffee is a good and interesting alternative for the control of diseases in the soil, however, the producers who are dedicated to this activity are totally ignorant of the new technologies used in this crop, which is why the coffee sector in the province of El Oro continues to deteriorate until now.