Relationship between soil chemical characteristics and vegetative development of coffee trees in different agroforestry arrangements

The article determines the relationship between soil chemical characteristics and the vegetative development of coffee trees (Coffea arabica) under two agroforestry arrangements —coffee with pacae (Inga sp.) and coffee with pine (Pinus sp.)— in the district of Huancabamba, Oxapampa (Peru). Using a quantitative, descriptive, comparative-correlational, and cross-sectional approach, the authors sampled four plots, analyzed soil chemical parameters (electrical conductivity, pH, organic matter, P, K, total CEC, and exchangeable cations), and estimated dry parchment coffee yield, vegetative vigor, and vegetative vigor index, applying t-tests, principal component analysis, and Pearson correlations. The results show that the coffee-with-pacae arrangement in Espiritupata offered the best edaphoforest conditions, with the highest values of pH, phosphorus, potassium, CEC, and magnesium, as well as higher dry parchment coffee yield and vegetative vigor index. A non-linear correlation was found between exchangeable magnesium and vegetative vigor (with an optimum near 1.37 meq/100 g), and a linear correlation between organic matter and the vegetative vigor index in the pine arrangement. The authors conclude that agroforestry arrangements are essential for improving and conserving the soil component as a nutritional basis for coffee trees, and recommend the incorporation of a lime amendment given the acidity of the soils.