| PLANTATION CROPS Coffee Introduction Coffee, native of Ethiopia, was introduced into India sometime during 1600 AD by a Muslim pilgrim, BabaBudan on the hills near Chikmangalur. Now coffee cultivation is mainly confined to the State of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh and on a limited scale to Arunanchal Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Sikkim, Tripura and West Bengal. Coffee belongs to the family Rubiaceae. Though the genus Coffee consists of about 70 species, only three species are of economic importance. They are (i) C. arabica (Arabica coffee) (ii) C. cenephora (Robusta coffee) and (iii) C. Liberia (Tree coffee). The first two species are extensively cultivated. Climate and soil Climatological factor like rainfall, temperature, elevation and aspect can influence economic production of coffee much more than soil factors. Soil should be deep, well drained, slightly acidic in reaction and rich in organic matter content. The optimum soil and climatic requirements for arabica and robusta under south India conditions are as follows:
Coffee cultivation is confined mostly to the hilly tracts of Western and Eastern Ghats. A well distributed rainfall is preferable for coffee with a dry months from December-March. Summer showers are important for flowering and failure of blossoms showers leads to crop loss. Varieties Crop improvement work carried out at Central Coffee Research Institute, Balahanur, Karnataka has resulted in the release of a number of superior selections in Arabica coffee and the popular once are furnished below.
Nursery management Healthy and mature fruits of normal size and appearance, three quarters to fully ripe are harvested from specially selected and marketed coffee plants for use as seed bearers. Floats are discarded, the sound fruits are pulped, the beans drained and sieved to remove defective beans. The beans are then mixed with sieved wood-ash, evenly spread out to a thickness of about 5cm and allowed to dry to facilitate uniform drying. Excess ash is rubbed-off after five days of drying. Germination beds, raised to a height of about 15 cm, one metre width and of convenient length are prepared. Four baskets of fully mature cattle manure or compost, about 2 kg. of finely sieved agricultural lime and 400g of rock phosphate are incorporated in a bed measuring 1m x 6m. Sowing Seeds should be sown with the flat side facing the soil at a distance of 1.5 – 2.5cm from one another in regular rows. A thin layer of fine soil is then spread. The bed is covered with a layer of about 5cm of paddy straw. The beds are watered daily and protected from direct sunlight by an overhead pandal. The seeds germinate in about 45 days. The seedlings are then transplanted to secondary nursery beds or raising polybag plants. Transplanting in bags Coffee seedlings are transplanted to polythene bags of 23 cm x 5 cm with 150 gauge thick in February or March when they are at the button or topee stage. The bags are filled with a prepared mixture of 6 parts of jungle soil, 2 parts of well rotten sieved cattle manure and 1 part of fine sand. At the time of transplanting it is preferable to slightly nip the tap root of the seedling. Transplanting is done preferably in the early morning hours or late in the afternoon. Regular watering and after-care of the seedlings should follow. Seedlings may be manured once in 2 months with urea dissolved in water, 20g. urea in 4.5 liters of water is sufficient for an area of 1 square metre. Adequate protection is given against nursery diseases and pests. Overhead shade in the nursery has to be thinned and finally removed after the onset of monsoon. Preparation of land Clean felling is not advocated. Selective retention of desired species of wild shade trees is essential. The land should be divided into blocks of convenient size with foot path and roads laid out in-between. In steapy area, terracing and contour planting may also be adopted. Spacing for arabica and robusta coffee is 2 to 2.5m and 2.5 to 4m respectively on either way. A close planting at 1-1.5 m eitherway and reduce the population by half after one or two harvests is good. Pits of 45 cm, are usually opened after the first few summer shower and seedlings of 16 to 18 months old are planted during June or September – October. A hole is made in the center of the pit after leveling the soil. The seedling is placed in the hole with its tap root and lateral roots spread out in proper position. The hole is then filled. The soil around the seedlings is packed firmly and evenly in such a way that 3cm high above the ground to prevent stagnation of water around the collar. The seedlings are provided with cross stakes to prevent wind damage. Training and Pruning Training of the bush is necessary to have a strong frame work which promotes producing of bearing wood. Coffee is trained in two systems viz. 1. Single stem system: When the plant reaches a height of 75 cm in Arabica or 110 to 120 cm in robusta, lit is topped. This helps to restrict vertical growth, facilitate lateral spreading and increase the bearing area. In this system, a second tier is also allowed sometimes depending upon the soil fertility and plant’s vigour.
Pruning in coffee is generally done immediately after harvest and till the onset of monsoon. It is essentially a thinning process and is done mainly to divert the vigour of the plants to certain parts by pruning the other parts. Pruning involves (a) centering-removal of the vegetative growth upto 15 cm redius from the centre and upto the first node of all primary branches (b) desuckering – removal of small sprouts arising from the axis of the leaves which otherwise grow towards the inner side and cause shade and become unproductive wood and (d) nipping-growing tip of primary branches is removed to encourage secondaries and tertiaries. Soil management Soil management practices aim at conserving soil and water and in general to make the soil perform its functions satisfactorily. It includes the following practices in coffee. a. Digging : In the new clearing, the field is given a thorough digging to a depth of about 35 to 45 cm towards the end of the monsoon. All weeds and vegetative debris are completely turned under and buried in the soil while the stumps are removed. Once the coffee plants have closed in, annual digging is not done. b. Scuffing or soil stirring : In established coffee fields, scuffling or soil stirring is done towards the beginning of the dry period. It controls weeds and also conserves soil moisture. c. Trenching : Trenches and pits are dug or renovated in a staggered manner between rows of coffee along the contour during August-October when the soil is fairly easy to work. These are 50 cm wide and 25cm deep and can be of any convenient length. d. Mulching : Mulching young coffee clearings helps to maintain optimum soil temperature and conserve soil moisture and acts as an effective erosion control measure. Mulching also adds to fertility of the soil. e. Weed control: New clearings are hand-weeded three to four times a year and established coffee two to three times. During the monsoon, the weeds are slashed back. Another weeding is done towards the end of the monsoon. Clean weeding is generally done during the post-monsoon period. Chemical weedicides have gained popularly in larger plantations. Gramoxone at 1.25 litres in 450 litres of water per hectare has been found to be the best. This should follow slash weeded plots after 10-15 days. f. Irrigation: Sprinkler irrigation is mainly used as an insurance against failure of good blossom or backing showers. It is also used on young plantations, marginal areas where water is available in plenty to help in establishment of coffee and shade. g. Soil acidity and liming: The heavy rainfall in coffee growing zones of South India brings about leaching in calcium and magnesium leading to soil acidity. Besides, continuous use of acid forming fertilizers like ammonium sulphate also make the soil acidic. As the ill effects of soil acidity are more, periodical lime application is essential to correct the soil pH for good productivity. The quantity of lime to be applied is based on soil pH and lime requirement. Agricultural lime and dolomitic lime are the most commonly used liming materials. It can be applied to the soil at any time during the year provided there is a gap of one month or a few showers between lime and fertilizer applications. It is also desirable to apply lime when there is sufficient moisture in the soil for quick response. Shade management Under the climatic conditions existing in India, Coffee is being cultivated under shade. It comprises of two canopies-lower or temporary and upper or permanent. High light intensities and temperature prevailing during the drought period are not conducive for normal and healthy growth of coffee plants. Therefore, there is necessity for protecting the coffee plants during the above period by providing both temporary (lower) and permanent (upper) shade trees. Dadap (Erythrina lithosperma) is used as a lower canopy shade in India. It is planted along with coffee in new clearings. When stakes are planted in June, they grow quickly using the moisture available in the soil. Next to dadap, silver oak (Grevillea robusta) is the most commonly used tree for temporary shade. The most popular permanent shade trees found in South India are Albizzia lebbek, A.moluccana, A.odoratissima, Artocarpus integrifoila, Cedrella toona, Dalbergia latifolia, Ficus glomerata, F.infectoria, F.retusa and Maesopsis eminii. Permanent shade trees are generally planted about 12 to 14 metres apart. It is advisable to plant a large number initially and thin out as the trees grow and spread out. The trees have to be regulated in such a way that in course of tome, they have their canopy about 10 to 14 metres above the coffee. Shade trees require constant attention by way of pruning and lopping to provide the required filtered shade to coffee. The most convenient time to regulate shade is after pruning and liming. Manuring Coffee plants produce every year fresh wood for the succeeding crop concomitant with the function of maturing the current betties. Hence, they require a regular supply of nutrients. Besides, being grown in heavy rainfall area, the losses of nutrients due to leaching and fixation are to be offset by regular application of adequate quantities of fertilizers. The peak periods of demands for nutrients are at the time of flowering fruit-set and development and maturation of the crop. Based on all these factors, Coffee Board recommends the following dose of fertilizer for coffee.
Manurial recommendation for Coffee
The leaf mulch beneath the coffee is swept towards the base and the fertilizers are applied in a broad circular band about 30 cm away from the stem. They are then incorporated into the soil, with a fork or stick and covered by mulch. As a supplement to soil applications of fertilizers, foilar spraying with (Urea 0.5 kg, ammophos (20:20) 0.5kg and muriate of potash 350g dissolved in 200 litres of water or Bordeaux mixture may be given) during periods of slow growth, flowering and fruit-setting. Harvesting and Processing Coffee fruits should be picked as and when they become ripe to get better quality. Arabica comes for harvesting earlier since they take 8-9 months for fruit development from flowering while robusta takes 10-11 months. Picking is done by hand. The first picking consists of selective picking of ripe berries often seen in the outer portion of the node and is called fly picking. Thereafter, there will be 4-6 main picking at 10-15 days intervals and final harvest i.e. stripping consists of picking of still remaining green berries on the plant. Coffee is processed in two ways a) Wet processing to prepare plantation or parchment coffee and b) dry method by which cherry coffee is prepared. A) Preparation of parchment coffee i. Pulping: This method requires pulping equipment and adequate supply of clean water. Fruits should be pulped on the same day to avoid fermentation before pulping. Fruits may be fed to the pulper through siphon arrangements to ensure uniform feeding and to separate lights and floats from sound fruits. The pulped parchment should be sieved to eliminate any unpulped fruits and fruit skin. The skins separated by pulping should be let away from the vats into collection pits so that microbial decomposition of the skin will not affect the bean quality when it gets mixed up with the bean. ii. Demucilaging and washing: The mucilage on the parchment skin can be removed by a. Natural fermentation: The mucilage breaks down in the process of fermentation and it take 24 to 36 hours for arabica and 72 hours for robusta. Cool weather delays the process of fermentation. Under fermented or over fermented beans affect quality. When correctly fermented the mucilage comes off easily and the parchment does not stick to the hand after washing and the beans feel rough and grittly when squeezed by hand. When the mucilage breakdown is complete, clean water is let in and the parchment washed pebble clean with three to four changes of water. b. Treatment with alkali: Removal of mucilage by treatment with alkali takes about one hour for arabica and one and a half to two hours for robusta. The beans obtained after pulping are drained off excess water and spread out in the vats uniformly and furrowed with wooden ladles with long handles. A 10% solution of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) is evenly applied into the furrows using a water can. 10 litres of the alkali is sufficient to treat 25 to 30 forlits (one forlit = 40 litres) of parchment. The parchment is agitated thoroughly by the ladles so as to make the alkali to come into contact with the parchment and trampled by feet for about half an hour. When the parchment is no longer slimy and makes a rattling noise, clean water is let in and the parchment washed clean with three or four changes of water. c. Removal of mucilage by friction: There are machines, which pulp and demucilage the beans in one operation. However, a number of naked and bruised beans may result in the parchment. It is, therefore, necessary to adjust the machines carefully to obtain uniform pulping and demucilaging.
The parchment is spread on clean tiled or concrete drying floor to be dried slowly by spreading to a thickness of about 7 to 10 cm. Stirring and turning over coffee, at least once an hour, is necessary to facilitate uniform drying. The parchment should be heaped up and covered in the evening until next morning. Sun drying may take about 7 to 10 days under bright weather conditions. At the right stage of dryness the parchment becomes crumbly and the beans split clean without a white fracture when bitten between the teeth. Drying is complete when a sample forlit of coffee records the same weight for two days consecutively. At this stage, coffee is shifted to the stores and bagged in clean, new gunnies. When coffee is being dried, all naked beans, pulper nipped and bruised beans, blacks, greens and other defective beans are sorted out and dispatched to curing works separately. B. Preparation of cherry For preparation of cherry coffee, fruits should be picked as and when they ripe. Greens and under-ripe fruits should be sorted out and dried separately. The fruits should be spread evenly to a thickness of about 8 cm on clean drying ground in which the cherries are stirred and ridged atleast once every hour. The cherry is dry when a fistful of the drying cherry produces a rattling sound when shaken and a sample forlit records the same weight on two consecutive days. The cherry should be fully dry at the end of 12 to 15 days under bright weather conditions. Plant protection The important pest and diseases in coffee, their symptoms/damage and the control measures are presented below.
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