Irrigated coffee at Uniube: soil moisture and nutrients

Diagnostic of the Uniube coffee field (Uberaba, Brazil), 3.55 ha and 11 km of rows, based on a drone flight on July 24, 2026 (319 photos, 1.5 cm/px). The 3D model split the field into two coffee phases: established coffee (2.66 ha, 50.7% canopy cover, average height 1.00 m, VARI vigor 0.171) and young coffee (0.89 ha, 40.5% cover, average height 0.54 m, vigor 0.149).

The established coffee has 94% of its rows closed (9.5 km occupied) with only 56 m of gaps across 9.5 km. The young coffee has 80% row occupancy, 26.3% bare soil (versus 19.8% in the established block) and concentrates most of the 59 critical management cells (out of 486 10x10m cells assessed) and the 36 erosion-risk cells (bare soil plus slope over 5%, mostly on the west edge).

3D-measured canopy volume was 19,000 m³ in the established coffee versus 2,800 m³ in the young coffee. Eleven row gaps ≥1.6 m without a plant were found (61 m total), of which 8 are real replanting candidates; the other 2, over 10 m, coincide with access lanes. Inter-row weeds sat around 15% in both phases.