Evaluation of four doses of potassium polyacrylate in the development of the coffee crop (Coffea arabica L) and in the conservation of available moisture for the plant in the soil

Abstract

The research was conducted from October 2018 to April 2019, at the nursery of the Faculty of Agronomic Sciences of the University of El Salvador, and in the Agricultural Chemistry laboratory. Four doses of Potassium Polyacrylate were evaluated in the development of coffee cultivation (Coffea arabica L.) and in the conservation of soil moisture available to plants. The study was carried out under the design of Random Blocks, there were four blocks; an experimental unit of four plants, with four treatments: T1 (5 g), T2 (7 g), T3 (10 g) and T0 (control) making a total of 64 plants. Data were taken such as plant height, number and length of sides, volume and length of the main root, days to wilt of the plant, chemical analysis in soil, plant and Potassium Polyacrylate. For the data analysis, descriptive statistics (graphs and tables) and the Tukey test were used. The InfoStats program was used. For the economic analysis a budget of the costs for the application of the product was made The days without irrigation were registered to the coffee plants obtaining the best average treatment 3 with an average of 126.25 days; When performing the Tukey statistical test, it was obtained that treatments 3 (10 g), 2 (7 g) and 1 (5 g) in which potassium polyacrylate was used had the best results (p> 0.05). A significant effect was found in the variables: plant height and root volume (p> 0.05), in which treatment 3 presented the best results with an average height gain of 23.5 cm and a root volume of 14 cc.