ANÁLISE ECONÔMICA DE CONSÓRCIOS DO CAFEEIRO CONILON COM ESPÉCIES PERENES E FLORESTAIS NO SUL DO ESPÍRITO SANTO

Abstract

Studies on agroforestry systems are increasing, having the great potential to contribute to agricultural sustainability and one of the important aspects evaluated is the economic viability of them. The INCAPER has an Agroforestry Research Unit in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Espírito Santo state, Brazil. This article presents and discusses the results of the economic analysis on the consortia tested in this unit. The area was divided in five plots. The first one as a conilon coffee monoculture and the others four had the conilon coffee in consortium with inga tree or banana tree or gliricídia tree or peach palm. The economic indicators considered were the production and trading operational cost, the productivity, the operational profitability and the benefit-cost index. The area equivalence index was also calculated. The study demonstrated that the more viable systems were the consortium of the coffee with peach palm and coffee with banana, which also represented more efficient land use than the monoculture. It was also observed, in the consortium, that there was a reduction in spending on weed control, but there was a greater expenditure on pruning of the trees associated to the coffee trees.