Agroforestry coffee practices in relation to productivity and erosion control in the Pirrís watershed, Costa Rica
Louise Meylan1,2, Christian Gary1, Anne Mérot1, Bruno Rapidel2
1st September 2010
1 – UMR SYSTEM, SupAgro/CIRAD/INRA, Montpellier, France2 – UMR SYSTEM, CIRAD, Turrialba, Costa Rica
Case studyAgroforestry system (AFS):
coffee + shade trees– Coffea arabica
– Erythrina poepiggiana
and/or Musacae spp
– Some full sun plantations
Erosion in the Pirris watershed• Intense rainy season + steep slopes
= high rate of soil erosion• ICE hydroelectric dam project, highly susceptible to sedimentation
OBJECTIVEFind out what are the constraints and potential pathways in coffee AFS for decreasing soil erosion at
the plot scale
HYPOTHESISDifferent environmental and
economic constraints will affect current management practices and
the opportunities for putting environmental services in place
CONSTRAINTS•Cost of labour and chemicals•Coffee sale price•Microclimate conditions•Fungus attacks (Mycena citricolor)
Interviews
• 30 farmers of plots of different sizes and slope orientations• Field visits and demonstrations of agricultural practices
Key management variables selected• Fertiliser • Herbicides• Fungicides• Shade tree density
Conceptual model
• Based on information from interviews and farmer explanations
• Describes a typical coffee plantation and management for Llano Bonito
• Aims:– Represent farmer conception of the AFS
– Basis for highlighting differences between practices in the typology
Coffee saleCoffee sale Labour costLabour cost Payment for env. servicesPayment for env. services
Shade treesShade treesFertiliserFertiliserFungicidesFungicides Cut
branchesCut
branches
Plant growth and potential productionPlant growth and
potential production
Water availabilityWater
availability
Mineral availabilityMineral
availability
WaterinfiltrationWater
infiltration
YieldYield
ErosionErosion
Products costProducts cost
Constraints and opportunities – general model
Coffee renewalCoffee renewal
SunlightSunlight
Flowering intensityFlowering intensity
Grain growthGrain growth
Nitrogen inputs
Nitrogen inputs
MycenafungusMycenafungus
RunoffRunoff
COFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMCOFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM
ECONOMIC FACTORSECONOMIC FACTORS
PERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSFACTORS
Weed management
Weed management
MANAGEMENTMANAGEMENTMANAGEMENT
Slope orientation
Slope orientation
Coffee saleCoffee sale Labour costLabour cost Payment for env. servicesPayment for env. services
Shade treesShade treesFertiliserFertiliserFungicidesFungicides Cut
branchesCut
branches
Plant growth and potential productionPlant growth and
potential production
Water availabilityWater
availability
Mineral availabilityMineral
availability
WaterinfiltrationWater
infiltration
Products costProducts cost
Constraints and opportunities – general model
Coffee renewalCoffee renewal
SunlightSunlight
Flowering intensityFlowering intensity
Grain growthGrain growth
Nitrogen inputs
Nitrogen inputs
MycenafungusMycenafungus
RunoffRunoff
COFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMCOFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM
ECONOMIC FACTORSECONOMIC FACTORS
PERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSFACTORS
Weed management
Weed management
MANAGEMENTMANAGEMENTMANAGEMENT
Slope orientation
Slope orientation
YieldYield
ErosionErosion
Coffee saleCoffee sale Labour costLabour cost Payment for env. servicesPayment for env. services
Shade treesShade treesFertiliserFertiliserFungicidesFungicides Cut
branchesCut
branches
Plant growth and potential productionPlant growth and
potential production
Water availabilityWater
availability
Mineral availabilityMineral
availability
WaterinfiltrationWater
infiltration
Products costProducts cost
Constraints and opportunities – general model
Coffee renewalCoffee renewal
Flowering intensityFlowering intensity
Grain growthGrain growth
Nitrogen inputs
Nitrogen inputs
MycenafungusMycenafungus
RunoffRunoff
COFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMCOFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM
ECONOMIC FACTORSECONOMIC FACTORS
PERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSFACTORS
Weed management
Weed management
MANAGEMENTMANAGEMENTMANAGEMENT
YieldYield
ErosionErosion
SunlightSunlight
Slope orientation
Slope orientation
Coffee saleCoffee sale Labour costLabour cost Payment for env. servicesPayment for env. services
Plant growth and potential productionPlant growth and
potential production
Water availabilityWater
availability
Mineral availabilityMineral
availability
WaterinfiltrationWater
infiltration
Products costProducts cost
Constraints and opportunities – general model
Flowering intensityFlowering intensity
Grain growthGrain growth
Nitrogen inputs
Nitrogen inputs
MycenafungusMycenafungus
RunoffRunoff
COFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMCOFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM
ECONOMIC FACTORSECONOMIC FACTORS
PERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSFACTORS
MANAGEMENTMANAGEMENTMANAGEMENT
YieldYield
ErosionErosion
SunlightSunlight
Slope orientation
Slope orientation
Shade treesShade treesFertiliserFertiliserFungicidesFungicides Cut
branchesCut
branchesCoffee renewalCoffee renewal
Weed management
Weed management
Payment for env. servicesPayment for env. services
Plant growth and potential productionPlant growth and
potential production
Water availabilityWater
availability
Mineral availabilityMineral
availability
WaterinfiltrationWater
infiltration
Constraints and opportunities – general model
Flowering intensityFlowering intensity
Grain growthGrain growth
Nitrogen inputs
Nitrogen inputs
MycenafungusMycenafungus
RunoffRunoff
COFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMCOFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM
ECONOMIC FACTORSECONOMIC FACTORS
PERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSFACTORS
MANAGEMENTMANAGEMENTMANAGEMENT
YieldYield
ErosionErosion
SunlightSunlight
Slope orientation
Slope orientation
Shade treesShade treesFertiliserFertiliserFungicidesFungicides Cut
branchesCut
branchesCoffee renewalCoffee renewal
Weed management
Weed management
Coffee saleCoffee sale Labour costLabour costProducts costProducts cost
• Use of Principal
Component Analysis (PCA)
and Agglomerative
Hierarchical Clustering (AHC)
(Blazy et al, 2009)
• Min. 5 plots/group
• Intensive management
• Sunny plots with lots of trees to protect coffee
• Low investment in chemicals
• Plots suffering from fungus attacks
1
2
3
4
Typology
Coffee saleCoffee sale Payment for env. servicesPayment for env. services
Shade treesShade treesFungicidesFungicides Cut
branchesCut
branches
Water availabilityWater
availability
WaterinfiltrationWater
infiltration
YieldYield
Intensive management
SunlightSunlight MycenafungusMycenafungus
RunoffRunoff
COFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMCOFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM
ECONOMIC FACTORSECONOMIC FACTORS
PERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSFACTORS
MANAGEMENTMANAGEMENTMANAGEMENT
ErosionErosionSlope orientation
Slope orientation
1
Plant growth and potential productionPlant growth and
potential production
Mineral availabilityMineral
availability
Flowering intensityFlowering intensity
Grain growthGrain growth
Coffee renewalCoffee renewal
Weed management
Weed management
Products costProducts cost
FertiliserFertiliser
Nitrogen inputs
Nitrogen inputs
Labour costLabour cost
Coffee saleCoffee sale Labour costLabour cost Payment for env. servicesPayment for env. services
Shade treesShade treesFertiliserFertiliser Cut
branchesCut
branches
Plant growth and potential productionPlant growth and
potential production
WaterinfiltrationWater
infiltration
YieldYield
Products costProducts cost
Plots with high tree density
Coffee renewalCoffee renewal
Flowering intensityFlowering intensity
Grain growthGrain growth
COFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMCOFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM
ECONOMIC FACTORSECONOMIC FACTORS
PERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSFACTORS
Weed management
Weed management
MANAGEMENTMANAGEMENTMANAGEMENT
ErosionErosion
2
FungicidesFungicides
MycenafungusMycenafungusSunlightSunlight
Slope orientation
Slope orientation
RunoffRunoff
Water availabilityWater
availability
Mineral availabilityMineral
availability
Nitrogen inputs
Nitrogen inputs
Coffee saleCoffee sale Payment for env. servicesPayment for env. services
Plant growth and potential productionPlant growth and
potential production
Water availabilityWater
availability
WaterinfiltrationWater
infiltration
YieldYield
Low investment in chemicals
Coffee renewalCoffee renewal
Flowering intensityFlowering intensity
Grain growthGrain growth
RunoffRunoff
COFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMCOFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM
ECONOMIC FACTORSECONOMIC FACTORS
PERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSFACTORS
Weed management
Weed management
MANAGEMENTMANAGEMENTMANAGEMENT
ErosionErosion
3
FungicidesFungicides
SunlightSunlight
Slope orientation
Slope orientation
MycenafungusMycenafungus
FertiliserFertiliser
Products costProducts cost
Nitrogen inputs
Nitrogen inputs
Mineral availabilityMineral
availability
Shade treesShade trees
Labour costLabour cost
Cut branches
Cut branches
Coffee saleCoffee sale Labour costLabour cost Payment for env. servicesPayment for env. services
Shade treesShade treesFertiliserFertiliserFungicidesFungicides Cut
branchesCut
branches
Plant growth and potential productionPlant growth and
potential production
Water availabilityWater
availability
Mineral availabilityMineral
availability
WaterinfiltrationWater
infiltration
YieldYield
Products costProducts cost
Coffee renewalCoffee renewal
SunlightSunlight
Flowering intensityFlowering intensity
Grain growthGrain growth
Nitrogen inputs
Nitrogen inputs
MycenafungusMycenafungus
RunoffRunoff
COFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMCOFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM
ECONOMIC FACTORSECONOMIC FACTORS
PERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSFACTORS
Weed management
Weed management
MANAGEMENTMANAGEMENTMANAGEMENT
ErosionErosionSlope orientation
Slope orientation
Plots with fungal invasion4
Coffee saleCoffee sale Labour costLabour cost Payment for env. servicesPayment for env. services
Shade treesShade treesFertiliserFertiliserFungicidesFungicides
Plant growth and potential productionPlant growth and
potential production
Water availabilityWater
availability
Mineral availabilityMineral
availability
Water infiltrationWater
infiltration
YieldYield
Products costProducts cost
Plots with fungal invasion
Coffee renewalCoffee renewal
SunlightSunlight
Flowering intensityFlowering intensity
Grain growthGrain growth
Nitrogen inputs
Nitrogen inputs
Mycena fungusMycena fungus
RunoffRunoff
COFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMCOFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM
ECONOMIC FACTORSECONOMIC FACTORS
PERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSFACTORS
MANAGEMENTMANAGEMENTMANAGEMENT
Cut branches
Cut branches
Weed management
Weed management
ErosionErosionSlope orientation
Slope orientation
4
Coffee saleCoffee sale
Plant growth and potential productionPlant growth and
potential production
YieldYield
Low investment in chemicals
Coffee renewalCoffee renewal
Flowering intensityFlowering intensity
Grain growthGrain growth
COFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMCOFFEE AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM
ECONOMIC FACTORSECONOMIC FACTORS
PERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEPERFORMANCEENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORSFACTORS
Weed management
Weed management
MANAGEMENTMANAGEMENTMANAGEMENT
3
FungicidesFungicides
SunlightSunlight
Slope orientation
Slope orientation
Mycena fungusMycena fungus
FertiliserFertiliser
Products costProducts cost
Nitrogen inputs
Nitrogen inputs
Mineral availabilityMineral
availability
Labour costLabour cost
Cut branches
Cut branches
Payment for env. servicesPayment for env. services
Shade treesShade trees
Water availabilityWater
availability
Water infiltrationWater
infiltration
ErosionErosionRunoffRunoff
Now what..?
• Combining typology and conceptual model illustrates different constraints and potential pathways for decreasing soil erosion
• Use numerical coffee AFS model (CAF2007) to test these relationships and explore the trade‐offs in each scenario
• Economic analysis for each group
• Bring model simulations to the farmers and discuss implementation of the new practices