INFLUENCE OF PLANTING DEPTH AND PIT CLEAN ING ON COFFEE GROWTH AND YIELD, ON A DUSK RED DYSTROPHIC LATOSOL

A field experiment has been carried out during 7 years in Londrina, Pa rana State, Brazil (latitude 23 degrees 23' S, longitude 51 degrees 11 ' W), to evaluate the effect of coffee planting depth and pit cleaning on plant growth and productivity. A split plot design with three repl ications was used, in which the main plots were pit cleaning (with per iodic soil removal near the coffee trunks after rainfall, and without cleaning), and the sub-plots were the planting depths (seedling neck p osition relative to the soil surface) of 10cm, 20cm, and 30cm. The res ults showed that there was better initial growth at higher planting de pths, due to more water availability at deeper soil layers. Difference s were bigger for the treatments without pit cleaning. As the root sys tem developed, the differences gradually disappeared, such that the tr eatments were similar after 4 years. Considering the higher costs of d eeper planting, it is recommended that coffee should be planted near t he surface level.