Plantation Setup and Layout

Before planting a coffee farm that is to be mechanically harvested the following points should be given serious consideration, so that optimal yields and ease of farming are achievable.

Depending on the slope of the land, the ideal orientation for coffee trees is north/south facing rows so that both sides of the tree row receive an even amount of sun [= even ripeness at harvest time]. .If the land slopes even slightly downhill it is strongly recommended to raise the planting area and have a V drain to the middle of the row. This will help stop the damaging erosion caused by heavy rain flowing under the trees, where it meets less resistance than the grassy area in the middle of the row. Over time this area under the tree becomes washed out and is then a natural gutter for running water that in turn amplifies the original problem. The topsoil washed away is the richest and most important part of the whole soil profile, hosting most of the biodiversity living below trees. By looking after this topsoil the farmer will save vast amounts of money and time over the years because the trees will need less fertilizer inputs as a result of the mini ecosystem operating under the trees. A Coffee tree continually drops its leaves all year round; these leaves build up under the trees and are broken down by a vast army of soil loving critters [microflora/fauna~macro-megafauna]. This is the natural cycle of creating fertilizers and should be helped as much as possible.

The mounding of the planting area can be done in a number of ways but probably the easiest is to use a small grader the same as used in road construction. There is also a soil profiler [slasher with rotary hoe blades] that can create V drains in existing plantations, its quite slow and requires a tractor of about 60 hp to work best but the resulting lack of erosion and rebuilding of topsoil under the trees is worth ever cent spent.

The trees are planted about 0.9 metres apart and after about 250 metres it’s a good idea to have a break in the row to allow for unloading of coffee from the harvester into field bins. The row spacing is about 3.75 metres trunk to trunk and a headland of at least 6 metres is required at the start and finish of the rows to allow for the harvester to enter and leave the rows.

The 250 metre break in the row also serves another purpose, i.e. to aid in the quality of mechanical harvesting, the fruit higher up the slope will ripen earlier and the lower fruit will ripen later, so if this break in the row is 6 metres the harvester can pick the higher ripe fruit and leave the lower unripe until it’s ready.

Irrigation is strongly advisable for coffee plantations because of numerous benefits, it allows the young trees to be watered from the day they are first planted which will help the tree to establish and grow even in very hot, dry conditions. Its also been found that coffee trees of all ages kept stress free by regular watering, produce more yield per tree and the bean size is also larger, these trees which are not stressed and suffering in hot dry conditions can be expected to flower well for the following growing season.

Another major benefit is that fertilizers and micronutrients can be injected into the irrigation system; this means the trees can be quickly and easily fertilized at any time to suit the farmer and the trees development. These fertilizers are drip watered below the tree onto its root zone so no fertilizer is wasted on weeds or grass; this fertilizer is available for immediate uptake into the trees. The irrigation pipe laid under the trees is called pressure compensated drip line and it has regulated drip emitters that release a predetermined litre/hour amount of water. These emitters are manufactured into the pipe at a spacing to suit the tree planting, if the trees are 0.9 metres apart the emitters would be 0.45 metres apart.

Its best to mound up the rows and establish a good interow ground cover well in advance of planting, sometimes it is a good idea to plant a legume type plant in the mound area where the tree will eventually be planted. This helps keep weeds from growing, it also breaks up and aerates the soil and when the coffee is ready to plant this legume can be killed and rotary hoed into the soil adding a nitrogen boost.

If irrigation is to be installed it should be up and running well BEFORE planting.

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