Coffee (Coffea arabica) is a very important world commodity because of the countries involved in its production, along with the total cultivated area, production volume, consumption and economic impact. In Mexico, the coffee producing areas are located mainly in the hilly terrain of southern Mexico under agroforestry systems predominantly owned by smallholders. Low productivity is faced especially in the state of Oaxaca as a result of inadequate management practices such as aged plantations and deficient practices of pruning and plant nutrition. In order to evaluate the effect of inorganic fertilization on coffee yield, an experiment was carried out at three plantations located in the coastal coffee producing region of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Six treatments considering varied amounts of inorganic nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) and lime application were applied in coffee plantations with the varieties Typica and Oro azteca. A randomized complete block design with four replications was used. The experiments were conducted in areas with three- or four-year-old plants, with the objective of having at least one harvest for yield evaluation. The variables’ plant height and coffee yield per plant were registered. The soil was classified based on soil profile description and lab analyses. The results showed that the soil in the study area is a Lithic Ustorthent with low pedogenic evolution and the application of inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium along with dolomitic lime, increased coffee yield on both varieties of arabica coffee: Typica and Oro azteca.

Coffee is a very important world commodity because of the countries involved in its production, along with the total cultivated area, production volume, consumption and economic impact. In Mexico, the coffee producing area locates mainly in hilly terrain of southern Mexico under agroforestry systems predominantly owned by smallholders. Low productivity is faced specially in the state of Oaxaca as a result of inadequate management practices such as aged plantations and deficient practices on pruning and plant nutrition. In order to evaluate the effect of N-P-K inorganic fertilizer application an experiment was carried out at three plantations located in the coastal coffee producing region of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Three levels of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium were evaluated using a randomized complete block design with four replications. The experiments initiated on plantations with three and four years since planted with the objective of having at least one harvest for yield evaluation. The results showed that Nitrogen application increased coffee yield on both varieties of Arabica coffee: Typica and Oro Azteca.