Evaluation of Conilon Coffee Productivity Intercropped with Ambarella (spondias Dulcis Parkinson)

The State of Espirito Santo (Brazil) has 9.4 % of its area cultivated in full sun, monocrop coffee. Coffee has a great importance for the State and a dependenceon just one product can make farmers vulnerable to price fluctuations. Integrating coffee (Coffea canephora Pierre ex Froehner) intercropped withAmbarella (Spondias dulcis Parkinson) offers environmental benefits and an extra financial combination through the commercialization of Ambarellafruits. The goal of this study was to verify the effects of the distance and orientation (East-West versus North-South) between Ambarella on coffee cropyield. We assessed two different coffee crops spaced (3 x 1.5) m. Both were intercropped with Ambarella spaced (15 x 7.5) m. The average coffee productivityvaried from (2,177 to 7,346) kg plant-1. The lowest productivity was measured in the North-South orientation, during 2016, and the highest in theEast-West orientation during 2017. Our findings also indicate that regardless of planting distance, Ambarella did not significantly affected coffee productivitydemonstrating that it can be a promising fruit tree to intercrop with Conilon coffee.