coffee growing and coffee tree

Limiting ecological factors

admin — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 07:20:53 +0000

The suitability of a given site for good coffee production is determined by four basic environmental variables: temperature, availability of water, light intensity and soil conditions. All other geographical conditions, such as latitude, altitude or topographical factors such as exposure or aspect, only affect the coffee plants insofar as they interact with the four basic variables. Another climatic element: air movement, does however, play an important role in the way it affects the crops.

The ecology of coffee

admin — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 06:53:23 +0000

This section studies the influence of the environment on the coffee plant, in particular the characteristics of natural factors such as climate and soil and their influence on development. Their effects determine the siting of indigenous species and the economic life of the plants, in other words their potential for profitable production and, by same token, the distribution of the crops throughout the world.

senility coffee plant-vegetative decline phase

admin — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 06:15:57 +0000

This final stage in the life of the coffee plant can be identified by a grandual degeneration of the shoot system, and a serious fall in production, accompanied by the death of the root system. This usually takes place at a fairly advanced stage in the life of the plantation, depending on the way in which it is run and the care taken in its maintenance.
In commercial production, it is estimated that a coffee plant is no longer viable after 25 to 30 year of intensive cultivation, when the production costs will no longer be sufficiently offset by the reduced size of the crop. However, with good tree management, coffee can still be economically viable at over 100 year of age.

On a family plantation, under shade, with lower production levels this poor production phase may be prolonged, especially in a fertile soil and in the absence of serious damage to plant health.

It is therefore necessary to make sure that, in coffee growing, biological longevity is not confused with economic longevity.Favourable environmental condition and proper maintenance are likely,to some extent,to narrow the gap between them.

pollination coffee plant

admin — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 06:08:16 +0000

This is brought about by insects such as beens and ants, the wind and gravity, particularly in the case of the arabicas when the pollen from the flowers on the upper branches falls onto the stigmata of the flowers on the lower branches.
Pollen has a relatively short life (three to four days under normal conditions). This life can be extended by keeping the pollen in a cool, dry place, in a glass or plastic container.

flowering coffee

admin — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 06:44:56 +0000

flowering enable the species to reproduce itself as well as leading to the production of edible berries. the structural information has described the location and form of the flowering organs. The detail of the wood the inflorescences should be remembered, i.e one year-old wood, situated in particular on the primary branches in canephora, and on both the primary and secondary branches in arabica.
Full development, from the appearance of the floral node to the opening of the clustered flower-heads, takes at least two and a half months. in face, only the final phase (stransition from the green bud stage to the open, white bud stage) is of fixed duration. for example, in the subequatorial conditions of the Ivory Goast,the final phase takes six to seven days in canephora and arabusta.
There may be one or two flowering periods,triggered by sudden rains, which may occur during the dry season or at the beginning ot the rainy season but minor additional flowering many occur, particularly in climates with four seasons.
One anomaly in flower development, called star flowering, consists of the premature opening of the flower buds during their final stage of preflowering. If opening is very early, it generally leads to the flower becoming sterile. This anomaly reveals an instance of poor ecological adaptation by the species, as is the case with arabicas in low-lying hot and humid equatorial area.

productivity phase coffee plant

admin — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:52:52 +0000

The young plant continues to grow for up two or three years, buy which time a specific balance between the shoot and the root system has been achieved which is appropriate for maturity and flowering. this reproductive phase enables the first crop to be picked in the third year. Thereafter, the annual flowering – fruiting rhythm superimposes itself on the rate of vegetative growth. the plant is then compleat, both physiologically and economically. It is considerd to be fully mature when it is five to six years old. It is then close to 3 m in height, although it is often pruned down to 2 m for convenience in harvesting.

Growth of the young coffee plant

admin — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:44:17 +0000

Growth of the young coffee plant is initially at the expense of the cotyledonary reserves. It continues to grow in height until the first branches are formed. this occurs from the fifth to the eleventh pair of leavs in robusta. The cotyledonary leaves wither and fall approximately four to six weeks after appearing above the ground.
At the age of approximately one year, the young coffee plant has four to eight pairs of branches. The shoot system now has all its vegetative structures, i.e terminal bud, axillary buds and foliage on the branches. The annual growth rhythm is, from this stage, closely linked to the climatic conditions; the alteration of the wet and dry seasons regulates this growth; vegetative dormancy the dry season prepares for and induces flowering

Growth coffee plant and development

admin — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:33:24 +0000

This section describes the developmental phases of the coffee plant. These are dependent on internal, eco-physiological factors and also on itsenvironment. They include the growth, flowering, fruiting and, subsequently, the death of the coffee plant.
Growth phase of the young coffee plant
the seed of the coffee plant is the coffee bean, whether convered with itsparchment or not. It is characterised by is fresh, decreasing rapidly,particularly from four months onwards in its natural environment. However, seeds may still be viable after four year when stored at + 10 C, in an atmosphere of 50 per cent relative humidity. A water content of over 10 per cent is nescessary to retain viability; this is achieved by moderate drying under shade.
Germination require a humid environment, which facilitates the imbibition of water by the seed. Enzymes within the seed are then activate and trigger the development of the embryo.Appearance at the soil surface takes place owing to the growth of the radicle which, over a period of 25 – 30 day, pushes the seed above the ground. The cotyledonary leaves develop while the growing point remains relatively dormant. This is call epigeal germination

classification and external structure coffee

admin — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 08:58:02 +0000

The botanists Linnaeus and De Jussieu described Cofea arabica and planced it in the Rubiaceae family. The genus coffee contains approximately 70 species, of which the most widely grown are the arabica and conephora species.
The stem is erect, orthotropic (vertical), and sometimes multiple, caused by the development of suckers arising from buds at the base of the trunk.
Opposite branches, more or less plagiotropic (horizontal), are inserted helically
on the stem. These subdivide into more or less flexuose (slender) secondary and sometimes tertiary branches (arabica), composed of internodes of varying length, depending on the species. Stem length is limited by the number of nodes from which arise the petiaoles (stalks) of two opposite leaves. The triangular stipular sheath which protects the axillary buds, is situated between the trunk and the base of the petiole.
Opposite pairs of lanceolate leavs with an acuminate
(gradually diminishing) apex, are supported by a short petiole with nine to eleven veins on the lamina. The leaves very in shape, texture and colour depending on the species and variety.

Coffee research has enabled selected varieties

admin — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 07:28:49 +0000

Coffee research has enabled selected varieties or cultivars to be added to the indigenous species, and , very recently, new interspecific genetic combinations have been created.
why has coffee been so successful? There is no doubt that, for the consumer, it produces a beverage with stimulation and mood-elevating properties which are so well known that new contries, sometimes traditionally dedicated to tea (Japan and Eastern countries), are how becoming converted to the highly-valued bean. However, for the producers of the tropical third world, it is also a raw material of great economic and social importance.
In world trade terms, although it is overtaken by cereals in tonnage, in value terms, in commercial dealings, it follows closely after oil.
it is an important earner of strong currencies, contributing in varying degrees to the national income of the producing countries for which unlike the food crops of self-sufficiency, it guarantees a solid basis for the promotion of economic development. it is this role which, historically, it has played in Brazil and which it is still playing in some of the relatively unindustrialised countries of Gentral America or Africa, for example Golombia, Gosta Rica, Rwanda, ivory Goast,Kenya,Gameroon.