Author(s)

Roberto dos Anjos Reis Jr.¹, Gustavo Pazzetti², Douglas Ramos Guelfi³

¹R & D, Wirstchat Polímeros do Brasil, Londrina, Brazil.
²Universidade de Rio Verde—UNIRV, Rio Verde, Brazil.
³Department of Soil Science, Federal University of Lavras—UFLA, Lavras, Brazil.

The effects of phosphorus (P) nutrition on various aspects of photosynthetic metabolism have been examined for coffee plants (Coffea arabica) grown under greenhouse conditions. The experimental design was completely randomized, and the treatments were carried out in a 2 × 5 factorial scheme: two P sources [Triple Superphosphate - TSP (46% P₂O₅) and Policote coated TSP - TSP + Policote (43.7% P₂O₅)] and five P rates (0; 5; 10; 15 and 20 g P₂O₅ plot^-1), with three replications. The net photosynthetic rate (A), the leaf temperature (LT), the atmospheric CO₂ concentration (Ca), the stomatal conductance (gs), the transpiration rate (E), the substomatal CO₂ concentration (Ci) and carboxylation efficiency (Ce) were measured in the youngest fully expanded leaf, with the use of an infrared gas analyzer. All photosynthesis measurements were affected by P fertilization. P fertilization increased net photosynthetic rate, leaf temperature, substomatal CO₂ concentration, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, and carboxylation efficiency. Policote coated P fertilizer resulted in a higher net photosynthetic rate, leaf temperature, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate than conventional P fertilizer. The data indicated that Policote coated P fertilizer, a kind of enhanced efficiency P fertilizer (EEPF), alters the plant’s photosynthetic carbon metabolism, explaining higher crop development and yield resulted from this EEPF.

Efficiency Use, Policote, Net Photosynthetic Rate

Reis Jr., R. , Pazzetti, G. and Guelfi, D. (2023) Enhanced Efficiency Phosphorus Fertilizer Impact on Physiological Characteristics of Coffee Seedlings. Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology, 14, 492-504. doi: 10.4236/abb.2023.1412034.