INOCULAÇÃO COM Priestia Aryabhattai E Bacillus Subtilis, ASSOCIADA À EMBEBIÇÃO NA EMERGÊNCIA INICIAL DE PLÂNTULAS DE CAFÉ

Abstract

Coffee (*Coffea arabica* L.) is of great economic and social importance to Brazil, and the production of high-quality seedlings is fundamental for establishing productive crops. Coffee seeds exhibit slow and uneven emergence, hindering the formation of uniform seedlings. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of water soaking and inoculation with *Priestia aryabhattai* and *Bacillus subtilis* on the emergence and initial establishment of *Coffea arabica* L. cv. Catuaí Vermelho IAC 144 seedlings. The experiment was conducted using a completely randomized design with six treatments and five replicates: control (dry seeds), water soaking, soaking + *Bacillus subtilis*, soaking + *Priestia aryabhattai*, inoculation alone with *Bacillus subtilis*, and inoculation alone with *Priestia aryabhattai*. Emergence percentage, Emergence Speed ​​Index (ESI), and the percentage of seedlings at the "jaguar ear" (*orelha de onça*) phenological stage were evaluated 45 days after the onset of emergence. Analysis of variance indicated a significant effect on emergence and ESI. The control treatment showed the highest values ​​(40% emergence and ESI of 0.082), whereas inoculations alone—especially with *Bacillus subtilis*—resulted in the poorest performance. The combination of soaking and *Bacillus subtilis* showed intermediate performance, approaching that of the control. No significant difference was observed regarding the "jaguar ear" phenological stage. It is concluded that inoculation alone with *Priestia aryabhattai* and *Bacillus subtilis* did not promote an increase in emergence or initial seedling establishment, while the combination of soaking and *Bacillus subtilis* performed similarly to the control treatment.