Multiple-disease system in coffee: From crop loss assessment to sustainable management

Assessment of crop loss due to multiple diseases and pests (D&P) is a necessary step in designing sustainable crop management systems. Understanding the drivers of D&P development and yield loss helps identify leverage points for crop health management. Crop loss assessment is also necessary for the quantification of D&P regulation service to identify promising systems where ecosystem service provision is optimized. In perennial crops, assessment of crop losses due to D&P is difficult, as injuries can affect yield over years. In coffee, one of the first perennials in which crop loss trials were implemented, crop losses concurrent with injuries were found to be approximately 50% lower than lagged losses that originated following the death of productive branches due to D&P. Crop losses can be assessed by field trials and surveys, where yield reduction factors such as the number of productive branches that have died are quantified, and by modeling, where damage mechanisms for each injury are considered over several years.