Agronomic performance of the newly pruned coffee trees at the CSU Lal-lo old coffee plantation

Pruning is a strategy employed in many areas to rejuvenate coffee plants and increase berry production. The study was conducted at Cagayan State University, Lal-lo, Philippines, from May, 2021 to June, 2023, focused on rejuvenating old coffee trees through full stumping method for sustainable production. The study evaluated the agronomic performance of newly pruned coffee trees which includes plant height, leaf length, number of leaves, stem girth and Leaf Area Index (LAI). A Randomized Complete Block Design and five treatments was employed across five hectares of newly pruned coffee trees, with 20 sample trees per hectare and three blocks. Treatments included: T1-all epicormic shoots permitted to grow, T2-two robust epicormic shoots retained at 1.5 m, T3-four robust epicormic shoots retained at 1.5 m, T4-two robust epicormic shoots grown to maximum height and T5-four robust epicormic shoots grown to maximum height. Insignificant differences were observed in plant height at 30 days after pruning (DAP), number of leaves at 30–90 DAP, stem girth at 30–150 DAP, and LAI at 30 DAP. However, significant results were noted in plant height at 60–150 DAP, number of leaves at 120–150 DAP, leaf length at 30–150 DAP, and LAI at 60–150 DAP. Treatment T4 achieved the best results in plant height, leaf number, stem girth, leaf length, and LAI, comparable to T1. The study recommends adopting T4 for optimal growth and suggests to conduct same study on yield performance of the newly pruned coffee trees and further trials during the dry season for more conclusive findings.