Impact of Humic Acids and Biofertilizers on Yield and Sensory Quality of Organic Coffee Varieties in Peruvian Plantations

In the last two years, Peruvian coffee production has been affected by the high cost of fertilizers. In the Selva Central region, 25% of coffee plantations are organic. To explore new technologies, a study was conducted to evaluate the effect of humic acids and biofertilizers on the yield and sensory quality of two coffee varieties: Castillo and Catuaí. The study used an AxB factorial design with 10 repetitions, resulting in 8 treatments. All treatments received lime (200g dolomite/plant) and organic soil fertilization (120N-80P2O5-150K2O kg/ha) using Isla guano and potassium sulfate. The variables evaluated were nodes/plant, number of cherry trees/node, cherry tree yield/plant, dry parchment coffee yield (qq/ha), yield percentage, and sensory quality. The results showed that humic acids positively influenced all evaluated variables in both varieties, with the Castillo variety performing better. Castillo had 12.78 nodes/branch, 20.56 fruits/node, 3.2kg cherry/plant, 53.38qq dry parchment/ha, and 76.13% yield. Catuaí had similar responses, with 9.00 nodes/branch, 14.33 fruits/node, 2.1kg cherry/plant, 35.07qq dry parchment/ha, and 76.93% yield. Trichoderma positively influenced the weight of 100 cherry trees and yield percentage in both varieties. Sensory quality scores ranged from 81 to 84 points, with the highest scores for Castillo (83.67) and Catuaí (83.58) when treated with humic acids. The lowest values in both yield and sensory quality were obtained without biofertilizer. In conclusion, organic fertilization complemented with humic acids is a promising technology for improving coffee production and quality in organic plantations.