Yield, stability, and plasticity of Arabica coffee genotypes under contrasting pruning systems

Abstract Coffee yield instability caused by biennial bearing causes coffee yield instability, reducing production predictability and farm income. Biennial drastic pruning (Zero Crop), which alternates harvest and no‐harvest years, has been proposed to reduce this instability, but its benefits depend on genotype performance under contrasting management. We evaluated yield performance, stability, and phenotypic plasticity of 25 Arabica coffee ( Coffea arabica L.) genotypes across six harvest seasons (8 years) under two pruning systems: Traditional (no drastic pruning) and Zero Crop (biennial drastic pruning with intentional no‐harvest years). The trial used a randomized complete block design with five replications (eight plants per plot). Yield (60‐kg bags ha − 1 ) was analyzed using linear mixed‐effects models (restricted maximum likelihood/best linear unbiased prediction), and genotype × season patterns were explored with genotype plus genotype‐by‐environment interaction biplots. Seasonal variation accounted for most of the yield variance, with significant contributions from genotype and genotype × season interaction. In productive years, Zero Crop increased yield by >50% relative to Traditional; however, because harvests were skipped, annualized yield was ∼60% lower under Zero Crop. These results show that pruning system strongly alters yield expression and that genotype recommendations should be management‐specific. Palma II, Sabiá 398, Catucaí Amarelo 24/137, and H 419‐10‐6‐2‐5‐1 combined high yield, stability, and plasticity across both systems, whereas Sacramento MG 01 and Pau Brasil were the best options when Zero Crop is adopted.