This study presents an evaluation of the viability of using protected urea under different irrigation depths to reduce nitrogen losses caused by the volatilization of ammonia (NH₃) under the conditions of the Southwestern Amazon. The study was carried out at the Experimental Station of Embrapa Rondônia, in the municipality of Porto Velho, Rondônia State, Brazil. The experiment was conducted in a Red-Yellow Latosol and arranged in a 5 x 6 factorial design consisting of a combination of five treatments (N sources) with six irrigation depths. The sources of N were as follows: 1) urea (45.5% N); 2) urea (44.3% N) + 0.15% copper and 0.4% boron; 3) urea (45% N) + NBPT; 4) urea (43% N) + sulfur (1%); and 5) control (without N). The irrigation depths were 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 mm. The results showed that, regardless of the use of urease inhibitors, an irrigation depth of 10 mm is suitable for incorporating urea into the soil and stabilizing N losses from NH₃ volatilization. NBPT is the most efficient inhibitor under nonirrigated conditions. All N sources promote increases in the concentrations of nitric and ammonia nitrogen in the soil. In the first 15 days after fertilizer application, the highest concentrations of ammonium were in the 0 - 10 cm and 10 - 20 cm soil layers, and NBPT showed the highest ammonium content compared to that of the other sources in the 0 - 10 cm layer. The nitric nitrogen content in the soil was slightly influenced by the irrigation depth in the first 15 days after fertilizer application. However, the ammonia nitrogen content decreased exponentially with the increase in irrigation depth due to the movement of ammonia in the soil.

The objective of this work was to evaluate urease inhibitors for the reduction of ammonia volatilization in Amazonian soils. The work was carried out on a clayey yellow Oxisol, a clayey red Oxisol, and on a light silty Ultisol. Each experiment was conducted in split plots, using standard urea, urea + a benzimidazole-type urease inhibitor (BZI1), urea + a benzoylthiourea-type urease inhibitor (RTB68), urea + N-(n-butyl) triamide thiophosphate (NBPT), or a fertilizer-free control. Volatilized ammonia was collected at 48, 96, 144, 192, 240, 288, 336, and 384 hours after fertilization. Ammonia volatilization reached a maximum at 144 hours in the urea, urea + benzimidazole, and urea + benzoylthiourea treatments. A peak level was reached at 192 and 288 hours in the urea + N-(n-butyl) triamide thiophosphate treatment. In yellow Oxisols, benzimidazole and benzoylthiourea reduced the ammonia losses by 22 and 10%, respectively, in soils without urease inhibitors. However, neither of these agents significantly reduced ammonia volatilization at the rate determined for standard urea in red Oxisols or Ultisols. N-(n-butyl) triamide thiophosphate is the most efficient urease inhibitor for the soils of southwestern Amazonia.

Planting coffee in agroforestry systems (AFSs) provides diverse advantages to farmers interested in producing environmental services, such as increased local biodiversity, reduction in soil erosion, improvement in water infiltration into the soil, and regulation of climate extremes. It can also be economically attractive due to the possibility of serving alternative markets that have higher and more stable prices for coffees integrated into alternative systems and the generation of products complementary to coffee. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different planting densities of three forest species on the composition of AFSs with coffee plants under the conditions of the southwestern Amazon region. The study was conducted from November 2014 to June 2021 in the experimental field of Embrapa in Ouro Preto do Oeste, RO, Brazil. The coffee plants were intercropped with three forest species: i) Brazilian firetree (Schizolobium parahyba var. amazonicum), ii) Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa), and iii) teak (Tectona grandis). The treatments used in each experiment were four plant densities of plants: zero (coffee plants only, in full sun), 111 plants ha−1 (10 × 9 m), 222 plants ha−1 (10 × 4.5 m), and 444 plants ha−1 (5 × 4.5 m). The experiments were conducted in a split-plot arrangement, with plots consisting of plant densities and subplots consisting of harvest periods (crop seasons). The experimental design was completely randomized, with nine replications. The part of the plot used for data collection consisted of one planted row with 12 coffee plants. The average and accumulated productivities of coffe plants were evaluated over five harvests (2017-2021). Afforestation of the coffee field with Brazilian firetree plants reduces the mean yield and cumulative yield of C. canephora ‘Conilon’ in the first five commercial crop years. Brazil nut and teak planted at densities of up to 222 trees per hectare did not lead to a reduction in the mean and cumulative yield of coffee plants.

Cutting is the main vegetative propagation method used for the production of Coffea canephora plantlets. In this method, parent plants are conducted in a specific field, called clonal garden, which must be managed to produce clonal cuttings. The objective of this study was to evaluate the production of cuttings and the export of nutrients by Coffea canephora in different periods in the Southwestern Amazon. The experiment was carried out in a 6 × 3 split-plot scheme (repeated measures in time), consisting of the combination of six clonal Coffea canephora genotypes (plot) and three cutting collection periods (subplots). The genotypes were: C-057, C-088, C-089, C-125, C-130 and C-160; and the evaluation sampling times were January/2017, May/2017 and September/2017. The applied design was a completely randomized design with four repetitions. The dry season, from May to September, promotes lower orthotropic stem dry mass accumulation by Coffea canephora, but allows obtaining a larger number of viable cuttings for the production of clonal plantlets. Nutrient accumulation by orthotropic stems for cutting production follows the following order: N > K > Ca > Mg > S > P > Mn > Fe > Zn > Cu. Nutrient export by the cuttings follows a descending order: K > N > Ca > Mg > P > S > Mn > Fe > Zn > Cu.

The nutritional management of the coffee clonal garden influences the production and physiological quality and seedlings production of vegetative propagules. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the seedlings’ production from clonal cuttings taken from Coffea canephora mother plants grown with increasing nitrogen mineral doses. The cuttings were taken from C. canephora var. botany Robusta, from the Embrapa Genetic Improvement Program of Rondônia. The mother plants received nitrogen fertilizer at different doses: 0 (Control); 50; 100; 150; 200; 250 and 300 kg of N per hectare divided into 4 applications, during 150 days of orthotropic stems growth (shoots). The following parameters were evaluated: Dry mass of cuttings, nutritional content of cuttings, and seedlings production, with growth analysis at 0, 48, 61, 80, 101, 122, 143, and 164 days after staking (DAS) and analysis of vegetative characteristics at 122 DAS. The nitrogen fertilization in the mother plant resulted in the variation of macronutrient accumulation in cuttings, but the order K> N> Ca> P> Mg> S was maintained, regardless of N dose. In addition, a positive correlation between nitrogen doses and dry matter accumulation, as well as the physiological quality of seedlings was identified.

In Coffea canephora, the number of orthotropic shoots is directly related to plant yield. The objective of this study was to evaluate the vegetative and yield performance of Coffea canephora, from the botanical variety Conilon, under different management systems for early emission of orthotropic shoots. The experiment was carried out in Ouro Preto do Oeste, Rondônia, between November 2011 and May 2014. Three types of management techniques were tested for early induction of orthotropic shoots in coffee trees (T1 = bending of the orthotropic shoot; T2 = apical pruning of the orthotropic shoot, T3 = free growing). The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design with 20 replicates. Each block consisted of a clonal genotype (clone) from the Embrapa Coffee Breeding Program. The techniques pruning and apical pruning were efficient to induce early growth of orthotropic shoots in Coffea canephora, resulting in higher yield in the first commercial bean production.