Productive and economic performance of Arabica coffee and macadamia nut intercropping

The objective of this work was to evaluate the productive and economic performance of Arabica coffee and macadamia nut intercropping, under rainfed and drip-irrigation conditions, as well as the financial viability of treatments in three coffee price scenarios. A completely randomized design was used, with six treatments (rainfed sole coffee, irrigated sole coffee, rainfed coffee-macadamia nut intercropping, irrigated coffee-macadamia nut intercropping, rainfed sole macadamia nut, and irrigated sole macadamia nut) and ten replicates. The productivity, the area equivalency index, and the economic outcomes of the treatments were evaluated in three coffee price scenarios. Drip irrigation and intercropping increased coffee and macadamia nut yields, in comparison to rainfed monocultures, and generally promoted the same productivity as the coffee irrigated monocultures, as well as higher productivity than the macadamia nut irrigated monocultures. The combined use of intercropping and drip irrigation promotes land-use efficiency 5-fold greater than the averages of rainfed monocultures. Irrigated intercropping promotes higher profitability and faster return on investment, making it a viable alternative, especially in periods of lower coffee prices.

本研究旨在评估雨养（rainfed）与滴灌（drip irrigation）条件下阿拉比卡咖啡（Arabica coffee）与澳洲坚果（macadamia nut）间作的生产与经济表现，同时考察三种咖啡价格情景下各处理的财务可行性。本研究采用完全随机设计（completely randomized design），设置6组处理，分别为雨养单作阿拉比卡咖啡、滴灌单作阿拉比卡咖啡、雨养阿拉比卡咖啡-澳洲坚果间作、滴灌阿拉比卡咖啡-澳洲坚果间作、雨养单作澳洲坚果、滴灌单作澳洲坚果，每组处理设置10次重复。本研究在三种咖啡价格情景下，对各处理的产量、面积当量指数以及经济收益进行了评估。相较于雨养单作模式，滴灌与间作均可提升阿拉比卡咖啡与澳洲坚果的产量；整体而言，该模式的生产性能可媲美滴灌单作阿拉比卡咖啡模式，且高于滴灌单作澳洲坚果模式。间作与滴灌联合应用可使土地利用效率较雨养单作的平均水平提升5倍。滴灌间作模式可带来更高的收益与更快的投资回报，是可行的种植替代方案，尤其在咖啡价格低迷时期。