{"id":138382,"date":"2013-10-23T16:15:05","date_gmt":"2013-10-23T18:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=138382"},"modified":"2017-03-09T16:11:41","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T19:11:41","slug":"coffee-with-more-gas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/coffee-with-more-gas\/","title":{"rendered":"Coffee with more gas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Precocious

EDUARDO CESAR<\/span>Precocious blooms: the coffee plant grows larger and produces more cherries in an atmosphere richer in CO2<\/sub>EDUARDO CESAR<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

An atmosphere richer in carbon dioxide (CO2<\/sub>) \u2013 as our atmosphere is expected to be in the coming decades as a consequence of continued gas emissions from the burning of forests and fossil fuels \u2013 could benefit the production of coffee, one of Brazil\u2019s principal agricultural crops, and perhaps neutralize the loss in productivity caused by the increase in temperature and the intensification of droughts and floods, according to the initial results obtained from an experimental crop grown at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) facility in Jaguari\u00fana.<\/p>\n

For two years, coffee plants maintained in six octagons measuring 10 meters in diameter received doses of CO2\u00a0<\/sub>at a concentration of 550 parts per million (ppm), simulating the atmosphere as it might be at the end of this century, when atmospheric CO2<\/sub> could be as high as 760 ppm. Coffee plants grown in six other octagons received only the level of atmospheric CO2<\/sub> prevailing today, a concentration of 440 ppm (see Pesquisa FAPESP Issue N\u00ba 198<\/a><\/em>). Comparatively, the plants that received more CO2<\/sub> \u2013 controlled by sensors that activated automatically according to the direction and speed of the wind \u2013 were taller and had longer branches, a thicker stem, and larger leaves.<\/p>\n

The coffee plants that received more CO2<\/sub> also produced more coffee cherries, according to Raquel Ghini, coordinator of the project entitled Effects of high atmospheric CO2<\/sub> concentration in open-top chambers and Free Air CO2<\/sub> Enrichment (face) systems on photosynthesis and natural resistance mechanisms of coffee plants to coffee rust. According to Ghini, it is too soon to announce the final gain in productivity because it represents the results from only one harvest. Because coffee plants alternate years of high and low productivity, \u201cwe need at least two harvests to obtain more consistent values,\u201d she says. The quality of the beans is being assessed by experts from the Campinas Institute of Agronomy.<\/p>\n

The coffee plants grew larger in an atmosphere enriched with CO2<\/sub> because the photosynthesis rate increased by 60%, from 10 to 16 micromoles of CO2<\/sub> per foliar square meter per second. \u201cMore CO2<\/sub> in the atmosphere means more substrate on which the plant can perform photosynthesis,\u201d says Emerson da Silva, a researcher at the Botanic Institute of S\u00e3o Paulo, which is responsible for the analysis.<\/p>\n

It is through photosynthesis that plants transform sunlight and CO2<\/sub> into carbohydrates. With more carbohydrates in its tissues, a plant will be able to grow larger and produce more fruit or, as we have already observed with soy, synthesize more chemical compounds that will help the plant defend itself against disease-causing microorganisms. In coffee plants kept in open-top greenhouses with a 760 ppm concentration of CO2<\/sub>, the Botanic Institute team observed an increase in the capacity to resist light, the light saturation point, from 600 to 800 micromoles of photons per square meter per second. \u201cThe plants became more capable of receiving more light,\u201d says Silva.<\/p>\n

\"Coffee

EDUARDO CESAR<\/span>Coffee plants enriched with CO2EDUARDO CESAR<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The example from Minas
\n<\/strong>Fabio DaMatta, professor at the Federal University of Vi\u00e7osa (UFV), believes that the benefits obtained from a high atmospheric concentration of CO2<\/sub> could neutralize many of the harmful effects produced by higher temperatures and changes in precipitation. According to a recent study, the effect could be the same as that for soybean, rice, and wheat, for which a significant decline in production is predicted to occur in the coming decades, even when considering only the rise in temperature.<\/p>\n

If these optimistic predictions prove true, it would be possible to prevent crops such as coffee from migrating to more temperate regions in the south of Brazil. \u201cThe new zoning pattern for coffee-growing cannot be determined unless we also consider the increase in CO2<\/sub> concentration,\u201d DaMatta says. The increase in atmospheric concentration of CO2<\/sub> could explain \u201csome results that were unthinkable not that long ago,\u201d as he puts it. For example, it could explain why coffee plants are growing and producing in some regions of Minas Gerais State, where the average annual temperature is 24.5o<\/sup> Celsius, 1.5 degrees above the limit that the plant is supposed to withstand. \u201cSome of the success of cultivation in those regions may, possibly, be due to the increase in CO2<\/sub> content in the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

The studies conducted so far \u2013 and presented in early September in Jaguari\u00fana \u2013 indicate that this coffee plant may be susceptibleto fewer diseases; however, the scenario is uncertain. \u201cSome pests and diseases will probably increase and others decrease because when plants grow bigger, they may create a more humid and cooler microclimate, which would be more favorable to fungi and bacteria,\u201d Ghini says.<\/p>\n

The pasture grass known as Surinam grass (Brachiaria decumbens<\/em>), the principal food of cattle in Brazil, grew taller and exhibited more biomass and fiber when subjected to an atmosphere richer in CO2<\/sub> than at present levels \u2013 among the coffee plants \u2013 than the same grass that did not receive extra doses of CO2<\/sub>. However, \u201cthe nutritive value is not as high,\u201d observes Adibe Abdalla, a researcher from the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP). In addition, the fiber was of lower quality, meaning that when digested by cattle, it might produce more methane, one of the gases associated with climate change.<\/p>\n

Projects
\n1.<\/strong> Effects of high atmospheric CO2<\/sub> concentration in open top chambers and Free Air CO2<\/sub> Enrichment (face) systems on photosynthesis and natural resistance mechanisms of coffee plants to coffee rust (12\/08875-3<\/a>); Grant mechanism<\/strong>\u00a0Regular Line of Research Project Award; Coordinator<\/strong>\u00a0Emerson Alves da Silva \u2013 Botanic Institute; Investment<\/strong> R$198,255.31 (FAPESP).
\n2.<\/strong>\u00a0Impact of the increase in concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide and availability of water on the growing of coffee in a Face (\u201cFree Air CO2<\/sub> Enrichment\u201d) experiment; Coordinator<\/strong>\u00a0Raquel Ghini \u2013 Embrapa Meio Ambiente; Investment<\/strong>\u00a0R$2,627,048.96 (Embrapa).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coffee plants grow bigger when there is more CO2 in the atmosphere","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[217,213,199],"coauthors":[5968],"class_list":["post-138382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","tag-climate","tag-botany","tag-farming"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138382\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138382"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=138382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}