The effect of modified pruning and planting systems on growth, yield, labour use efficiency and economics of Arabica coffee

The economics of coffee plantations is intrinsically linked to pruning, which can improve the canopy architecture and thereby increase use efficiency. However, in India, recommended pruning methods viz., light, medium and hard pruning on Arabica coffee plantations have been highly labour intensive. The labour constitutes about 60 % towards cost of cultivation of coffee. In this study, the modified pruning and planting systems were investigated on Arabica coffee cv. Chandragiri and assessed for growth, yield and labour productivity at Central Coffee Research Institute, India over a period of nine consecutive years (2010–2018). Experimental results revealed that all the growth attributes and clean coffee yield were significantly influenced by modified planting systems (hedge row and paired row) and pruning methods (cyclic and rock-n-roll). Correlation coefficient data indicated that growth parameters had shown positive and significant correlation with clean coffee yield (CC) due to effect of modified pruning and planting systems except plant height. Mean data showed that adoption of modified pruning and planting systems helped to get higher clean coffee yield (1316 kg/ha), about 22–55 % of labour savings and maximum cost: benefit ratio of 1:2 could be achieved over traditional system of pruning and planting system. These results suggest that modified pruning methods facilitate vertical growth of coffee plants and thereby provide huge scope for high density planting system without compromising the yield. Further, an efficient labour force and adequate supply of human labour is the basic requirement for successful commercial cultivation of coffee. Hence, modified pruning methods such as cyclic and rock-n-roll pruning could be an option for improving the labour productivity of Indian coffee plantation.