The production of organic coffee have been shown as a necessary and irreversible tendency of brazilian agrobusiness. This activity has an important role as an income alternative for some coffee producers, due to the increasing global demand for safety food. However the majority of techniques proposed in the organic agriculture have beeing use empiricaly to the coffee plantings, especialy in Minas Gerais state, the producer state coffee in Brazil. Considering the low natural soil fertility of this coffee region and the great nutrient exportation from the coffee crops, the objective of this research is to evaluate possible negative fators for the organic coffee production related with soil fertility and the nutritional status of plants. Soil and leaf samples were collected in 21coffee plantings of Minas Gerais. The soil samples were analyzed for pH, P, K, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Al and organic matter contents. Foliar samples were analyzed for N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, B, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn contents. Considering the patterns established for conventional coffee plantings found in literature, frequencies were calculated when soil and leaf contents were low, high and adequate. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. More data is required on tissue analysis and soil fertility in order to effectively reveal nutritional disorders in organic coffee plantings.
Organic coffee; soil analysis; foliar analysis; Coffea arabica; nutritional diagnosis
