Planter
AGRONOMIC PRACTICES
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• Procure seeds only from authorized sources.
• Do not procure seeds from coffee berry borer infected areas.
• Sow the seeds soon after procurement as they have short viability.
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Conservation of soil and moisture is very crucial in coffee plantations.
Problems related to soil conservation
• Monsoon season: Soil erosion due to sloping terrain.
• Post-monsoon season: Lack of moisture (i.e., drought) can adversely affect the normal
growth of coffee.
Prevention of soil erosion:
• Contour planting/terracing in moderate to steep slopes.
• Planting of soil binding grasses like Vetiver, Paspalum etc. across the slope at suitable intervals.
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• Growing of leguminous green manure crops like Crotalaria, Tephrosia, cowpea, horsegram etc. in the initial years of planting may be adopted.
• Green manure crops should be sown during May-June and incorporated into soil before flowering.
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• Cover digging during the first year of planting (Oct.-Nov.). However, in sloppy terrain avoid digging and adopt only manual weeding.
• Scuffling during post-monsoon (Oct.-Nov.) from 2nd to 4th year of planting helps in for conservation of soil moisture. Avoid scuffling in slopy terrain.
• No soil cultivation like digging, scuffling should be practiced in established fields.
• Take up cradle pits/trenches in staggered manner across the slope in established fields to conserve soil and moisture.
• Mulch the base of young plants with dry leaves, for conserving moisture during dry months.
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• In early stages of establishment of plantation, cultural practices like cover digging, scuffing, cover cropping with cowpea, horsegram etc. would be highly useful in suppressing weed growth.
• In established fields, integrated measures of weed control involving pre-monsoon weedicide spray, mid-monsoon slash weeding and post-monsoon weedicide spray will give satisfactory weed control.
• In the case of chemical weeding, use either contact weedicide Gramoxone or systemic weedicides like Glycel or Round Up in a rotation.
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• Avoid indiscriminate timber extraction for short term gains.
• Maintain a two-tier shade canopy consisting of temporary dadaps and permanent shade trees like Ficus, Albizzia, Jackfruit etc.
• At higher altitudes, temporary shade trees may be phased out once the coffee is well established.
• Regulate hanging shade tree branches every year instead of once in 3-4 years to minimise damage to coffee bushes.
• Delay the shade regulation during summer months after harvesting the crop and carryout only after the receipt of natural showers.
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• Proper bush management is essential to minimise year-to-year yield fluctuations and also facilitating effective management of pests and diseases.
• Light pruning every year after harvest is essential to maintain the framework of the plants.
• Handling, centering and desuckering during June-July and if necessary during Sept.-Oct. help in maintaining adequate cropping wood.
• Rejuvenation of disease susceptible/ off type plants by top working would ensure uniformity and increased productivity.
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• Maintaining optimum pH by liming is essential requirement for nutrition management in coffee. If proper pH is not maintained, the applied fertilizers will not be utilised by the plants effectively.
• Soil testing at least once in 2-3 years should be mandatory for lime and fertilizer applications.
• Use agricultural lime analysing 80% calcium carbonate. November is the best period for lime application. Application of dolomite lime once in a while in rotation is beneficial.
• Application of bulky organic manures like FYM or compost @ 5 tonnes/ha. once in two years would improve the soil condition and better utilization of applied fertilizers.
• The recommended dose of fertilizers should be applied in three splits (post-blossom, pre-monsoon, post-monsoon) by adopting drip circle method. In sloppy areas, the fertilizers should be applied in the upper half of the drip circle.
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• Among the pests, white stem borer (Xylotrechus quadripes), coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei), shot hole borer (Xylosandrus compactus), nematodes and sucking pests like mealybugs and green scales are of economic importance.
• Among the diseases, coffee leaf rust (Himeleia vastatrix), black rot (Koleroga noxia) and root diseases are the major ones that cause crop losses.
• Unlike in South American countries, coffee in India is cultivated under a mixed canopy of shade trees, which greatly influences the microclimate in the coffee ecosystem.
• The coffee pests and diseases could be kept below economic threshold level by carefully adopting integrated management strategies such as anticipation and continuous monitoring of pest and disease outbreaks, maintenance of optimum overhead shade, pruning of coffee bushes, conservation and augmentation of indigenous natural enemies, introduction of exotic natural enemies of the pests and timely use of need based bio-pesticides/ insecticides/ fungicides.
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Name of the pest and its Scientific name
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Symptoms and damage caused
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Control measures
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White Stem Borer
(Xylotrechus quadripes)
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Serious pest of arabica coffee.
Infested plants show external ridges around the stem.
Affected plants also show yellowing and wilting of leaves.
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• Maintain optimum shade
• Trace infested plants prior to flight periods (March and September), uproot and dispose off.
• Remove loose scaly bark on the main stem and thick primaries using a coir glove or coconut husk.
• Apply 10% lime solution (20kg spray lime and 100 ml DDL fevicol in 200 liters of water) on the main stem and thick primaries just before the flight period.
• Install pheromone traps during flight periods(April- May & October - December) in the highly infested blocks( 25 traps/Ha)
• Spray recommended insecticides (based on the monthly advisory) as a last resort if no above-mentioned operations are adopted.
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Coffee Berry Borer
(Hypothenemus hampei)
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The pinhole at the tip of the berries indicates the presence of pest.
In severe cases of infestation, two or more holes may be seen.
Infested berries leads to poor quality and crop loss.
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• Spray Beauveria bassiana at the initial stage of infestation.
• Timely and clean harvest.
• Use picking mats to reduce gleanings.Remove off-season berries and gleanings.
• Dry the coffee to prescribed moisture levels. Install Broca traps(25/Ha) in the field and drying yard.
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Shot Hole Borer
(Xylosandrus compactus)
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Wilting or drying of twigs with shot holes indicate the presence of the pest.
Attacked branches dry up fast. Terminal leaves beyond the point of attack fall off prematurely
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• Prune affected twigs 5 cm- 7.5 cm below the hole.
• Remove and destroy all unwanted / infested suckers during summer, Maintain thin shade and good drainage.
• Install Xycom traps (30/Ha) from September – February.
• For young plants (up to three years), spray of Carbosulfan 25EC at 400ml in 200 litres of water, along with 200 ml of wetting agent.
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Mealybugs
(Planococcus citri &
P. lilacinus)
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Mealybugs attack nodes, spikes, berries, tender branches, leaves and roots.
Heavy infestation leads to chlorotic leaves, flower bud abortion and stunted berries
Plants affected by mealy bugs usually have ant movements
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• Maintain adequate shade and remove the weeds that harbours mealybugs.
Destroy ant nests.
• Release parasitoid Leptomastix dactylopii against P. citri.
• Spray recommended insecticides based on the monthly advisory
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• Maintain optimum shade (60%) with 2 tier mixed shade. It is advisable to not take up any shade regulation during the March & April months. In case of any necessity in specific blocks, only shade dressing/lifting may be taken up after receipt of adequate showers preferably, during the end of May or in June.
• Tracing of infested plants should be completed by the end of March and end of September to avoid the emergence of adult borers from infested plants.
• During the tracing operation, the severely infested plants with multiple infestations need to be uprooted and destroyed immediately by burning or killing the stages inside the stem by dipping in water for 10 days.
• The less infested or suspected plants (infested) can be saved by wrapping the main stem and thick primaries with strips of non-woven fabrics (≥ 1 mm thickness). This method prevents the emergence of adult beetles from infested plants and thereby preventing further spread of the infestation. Sometimes the wrapped plants would also recover if the infestation was in the early stage.
• To protect the remaining healthy plants one of the following measures should be carried out without fail by the end of March and September to prevent egg laying.
(i)Bark scrubbing: Remove the loose bark on the main stem and thick primaries using a coir glove or coconut husk. Do not use sharp implements for bark scrubbing to avoid injuries to the green tissues.
(ii)Swab the main stem and thick primaries with 10% lime solution (20 kg spray lime dissolved in 200 L of water along with 200 ml of DDL Fevicol) to avoid egg laying.
• Pheromone traps can be installed (10 per acre) before the first fortnight of April and October in severely infested plants.
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Name of the pest and its
Latin name
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Symptoms and damage caused
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Control measures
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Coffee Leaf Rust
(Hemileia vastatrix B. & Br.)
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Yellow to orange spots on lower surface of leaves with powdery mass of uredospores.
Pear shaped teliospores seen from January to April.
Severe attack results in defoliation, die- back, and debility and crop loss up to 70% if timely control measures are not taken up
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Maintain optimum shade.
Spray 0.5% Bordeaux mixture during Pre-monsoon (May- June) and Post-monsoon (Sept.- October) period Or
Spray 0.5% Bordeaux mixture during Pre-monsoon and Bayleton 25WP @ 0.02 a.i. (160g/barrel) during post-monsoon.
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Black Rot
(Koleroga noxia Donk)
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Usually occurs during monsoon months in endemic areas with high humidity and hanging mist.
Blackening and subsequent rotting of young leaves, berries and shoots.
Diseased leaves get detached from branches and hang out by means of slimy fungal strands
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In endemic areas, maintain thin overhead shade bush sanitation by removing shade trees leaf litter on bushes,
Adopt proper handling and centering of bushes and provide proper drainage to minimize build up of humidity.
Spray 1.0 % Bordeaux mixture before the onset of south-west monsoon.
If disease is noticed, remove the diseased leaves and berries and bury them and Spray Bavistin 0.03 % a.i. (120 g/ 200 l water) during break in monsoon
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Root diseases:
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There are four types of root diseases affecting coffee viz., Brown, Red, Black root diseases and Santavery disease.
Of the four types, the aerial symptoms in case of Brown, Red and Black root diseases are similar with the affected plants showing gradual yellowing and thinning of foliage, followed by defoliation, wilting and eventual death.
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Management of Brown, Red and Black root diseases:
Isolate the affected plants with 60cm deep and 30cm wide trenches.
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Brown Root disease
(Fomes noxius Corner)
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Brown root disease also known as 'Stump Rot,' is mostly associated with rotting stumps of shade trees in the plantation. Disease spreads by means of root contact. Internal portion of rot shows dark brown to black wavy lines.
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Uproot the affected coffee plants along with the root system and burn them.
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Red Root disease
(Poria hypolateritia Berk)
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Red root disease normally infects shade trees such as Silver Oak or Syzigium (nerale), followed by adjacent coffee plants. Root system shows red encrustration covered by soil and gravel. The rhizomorph appears deep red in colour
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Add agricultural lime @ 1-2 kg to each pit and fallow the pits for 6 months before planting.
Uproot the shade trees along with stumps whenever, it is felled, to avoid root diseases in future.
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Black Root disease
(Rosellinia arcuata Petch)
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In Black root disease, fungal rhizomorphs or black wooly mycelium are seen on the affected roots. On stem near the ground level, fan- shaped fungal mats with pellet like fructation are also seen.
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Drench the soil with Bavistin 0.4 % @3 l/plant (24g/3 l of water) or vitavax 75 WP 0.3% @ 3 liter/plant (12g/3 liter of water) in the initial stage of wilting
Application of biocontrol agent Trichoderma in affected blocks is useful in reducing disease incidence.
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Santavery Root disease
(Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Coffeae)
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The Santavery root disease is characterized by sudden wilting, yellowing of leaves followed by defoliation and death of aerial parts.
A transverse section of the root shows brown to pinkish discoloration.
Scrapping of the bark of the stem near the ground level reveals discoloration
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Management of Santavery Root disease:
Uproot the dead and dying plants and burn them.
Maintain adequate overhead shade.
Apply well-composted organic manure @ 10- 15 kg per plant to improve soil fertility.
Apply balanced nutrients and follow good cultural operations to maintain the vigour of the plants.
Use grafted plants (Arabica on robusta rootstock) for planting or replanting in the affected block.
Drench the soil with Bavistin 0.4% @ 3 litre/ plant (24 g/ 3 litre) or Vitavax 75 WP 0.3% @ 3 liter / plant (12 g/ 3 litres of water) in initial stage of wilting.
Application of biocontrol agent Trichoderma is useful in reducing disease incidence.
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Disease/ Causal organism
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Symptoms
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Control measures
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Die-back
(Colletotrichum gleosporoides Penz.)
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Yellowing or blighting of any leaf on the green wood, yellowing, necrosis of nodes and internodes towards the tip. Twigs wilt and defoliate, die forward towards the apex and depict a die back appearance. Floral buds on the infected branches fail to open
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Prune badly affected plants in February- March.
Protect the plant by spraying 0.5% Bordeaux mixture in February- March (pre blossom), April- May (pre monsoon) and September- October (post- monsoon).
Maintain adequate over head shade and leaf mulch around the plants to conserve soil moisture during dry weather.
Apply balanced nutrients to maintain the vigour of the plants.
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Die-back
(Colletotrichum gleosporoides Penz.)
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Yellowing or blighting of any leaf on the green wood, yellowing, necrosis of nodes and internodes towards the tip. Twigs wilt and defoliate, die forward towards the apex and depict a die back appearance. Floral buds on the infected branches fail to open
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Prune badly affected plants in February- March.
Protect the plant by spraying 0.5% Bordeaux mixture in February- March (pre blossom), April- May (pre monsoon) and September- October (post- monsoon).
Maintain adequate over head shade and leaf mulch around the plants to conserve soil moisture during dry weather.
Apply balanced nutrients to maintain the vigour of the plants.
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Nematodes
(Pratylenchus coffeae)
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Affected young plants are lean and lanky. Older leaves become yellow and drop, leaving very few undersized, chlorotic and crinkled leaves at the tip of the stem giving a 'tufted' appearance. Affected bearing plants show thinner stem and have in adequate foliage to support the crop
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In nursery dig and expose the soil for one summer and thoroughly dry the jungle soil while preparing nursery mixture.
In the main filed, uproot and burn the affected plants, dig the affected soil and expose for one year.
Take care to keep the pits free from weeds- Plant the affected area grafted plants of arabica on robusta rootstock.
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• Coffee is processed either by wet method to produce 'Plantation / parchment coffee' or by dry method to obtain 'Cherry coffee'.
• For preparation of both these types of coffee, picking of just ripe fruits is essential.
• Over ripe or green (unripe) berries result in poor cup quality after processing. If, for any reason coffee could not be harvested as and when it ripens, the over ripe and green fruits should be sorted out and processed separately as 'cherry'.
• The pulper, washing machines, tank, vat, trays etc., should be kept clean.
• Pulp the fruits on the same day of the harvest.
• Prolonged heaping of fruits and delayed pulping should be avoided.
• Clean water should be used for washing coffee.
• Soak the parchment under water overnight for enhancing the quality of coffee.
• Clean the pulper machine, vats, etc., after the day's work.
• Sort out all pulper-cuts, naked beans, blacks and other defective beans during drying of parchment.
• Initially, dry parchment coffee on wire mesh trays to drain off the excess water rapidly.
• Later dry the coffee on clean, tiled or concrete drying yards.
• Cover the coffee during night to avoid re-wetting.
• Dry the coffee to the prescribed test weight or moisture standards.
• Store the coffee in clean gunny bags, in well-ventilated and clean go downs, free from dampness. Line the floor with wooden planks.
• Do not store coffee along with fertilizers, pesticides and such other materials, which may contaminate the bean.
• Dispatch the coffee to the curing works at the earliest opportunity.
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Organic Coffees in India
Organic coffee are those coffees produced by such management practices which help to conserve or enhance soil structure, resilience and fertility by applying cultivation practices that use only non-synthetic nutrients and plant protection methods. Further, although many producers grow coffee without use of synthetic agro-chemicals, this passive approach is not sufficient to be considered organic in the absence of credible certification by an accredited certification agency.
Organic coffee is being produced by about 40 countries in the world with major production share coming from Peru, Ethiopia and Mexico. Organic coffee is chiefly consumed in the Europe, US and Japan.According to US Organic Trade Association, the global sales of organic coffee reached 67,000 MT in 2006 recording a 56% increase from 2003 when approx. 42,000MT were exported. In the United States alone the organic coffee sales amounted to approx. $110 million in 2006, an increase of 24% from previous year. Organic coffee products are now marketed in the form of regular, decaffeinated, flavoured and instant coffee as well as in other foods like ice-creams, yoghurt, sodas, candies and chocolate covered beans etc.
Scope for Organic Coffee Production in India
There is a good potential for production of organic coffee in India, as the conditions are far more favourable than in any other coffee producing country. Some of the natural advantages in India are;
i) Coffee is mainly cultivated in deep fertile jungle soils under a two tier mixed shade canopy comprising of evergreen leguminous and non-leguminous shade trees. Growing under shade has several advantages. Shade trees provide a natural habitat for vast population of birds and natural enemies of insect pests/diseases, help in reducing the soil erosion, contribute towards the fertility of coffee soils by recycling nutrients from deep soil in the form of leaf litter and finally protect the coffee bushes from vagaries of changing weather conditions.
ii) Traditional farming practices such as use of cattle manure, composting, manual weeding etc., are in vogue in vast majority of small holdings.
iii) Availability of sufficient skilled manpower for labour intensive operations like manual weeding, shade regulation and soil conservation measures etc.
iv) The horticultural practices followed in Indian coffee plantations are considered as one of the best in the world, in which emphasis is mainly towards manipulation of microclimate and plant health, so as to reduce excessive dependence on agro- chemical inputs.
Apart from these natural advantages, the Indian coffee industry is characterised by predominantly small holdings. Majority of these small holdings especially in Idukki zone of Kerala, Bodinayakanur zone of Tamil Nadu and all the tribal holdings in Andhra Pradesh and the North-Eastern states are basically organic by default. These small and tribal coffee growers do not use chemical fertilizers and plant protection chemicals due to their poor economic status and due to their belief in natural farming. Consequently the yields are low and are only at subsistence levels. Thus, there exists a good scope for converting these small and tribal holdings into certified organic without much change in the existing cultivation practices.
Despite good potential, the organic coffee is grown only in about 2,600ha in the country with an estimated production of about 1700MT as on 2007. The major area is in Tamil Nadu and Kerala followed by Karnataka (see database on organic coffee producers Certified organic coffee holdings in India - 2008)
The growth of organic coffee sector in India is not very encouraging despite the fact that the conditions here are ideally suitable for organic coffee production. Some of the constraints identified are as follows:
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Many smallholder groups, especially in Kerala, have opted for organic farming during the great coffee price crisis period 1999-2003 mainly to reduce cost of inputs. But unfortunately, majority of the area was Robusta coffee, which is not very much preferred in the international market.
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During the late 1990’s, organic coffee were fetching a good premium in the international market. But the premiums started narrowing down to about 15% in recent years. Considering the disadvantage Indian coffee faces with regard to the logistics to main organic coffee importer i.e., USA the premiums are not very attractive for Indian organic coffee.
Despite the slow growth, some of the producers of organic coffee especially in the medium and large grower category have been successful in realizing high premiums in the international market for their organic coffee. This is because of their constant efforts in improving quality of coffees as well as marketing. Even incase of smallholder groups, organic farming has offered good benefits through attractive premiums for pepper, vanilla etc., which are grown as intercrops in their coffee holdings.
Coffee Board has developed a package of practices for organic coffee production based on field experiments, surveys and case studies. The Board has also brought out various publications on organic farming from time to time. The important ones are:
Technical documents on
2. Guidelines on production of organic coffee
Booklets on
1. Permitted inputs to control pests and disease in organic coffee estates
2. Guidelines for production of organic coffee
Extension Folders on
1. Know how about organic coffee certification
2. Composting of coffee wastes
These publications can be obtained from the Assistant Librarian, Central Coffee Research Institute, Coffee Research Station Post, Chikmagalur- 577 117, India.
The National Programme On Organic Production (NPOP)
During the 1990s, the Government of India initiated the process of developing a national policy on organic agriculture and putting in place the production standards so to encourage production and export of organic agricultural products from the country. The initiative was spearheaded by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. The Commodity Boards functioning under the Ministry were actively involved in developing the national policy and standards on organic agriculture. Accordingly, the National Programme on Organic Production (NPOP) was officially launched in 2000 and notified under FTDR Act in the year 2001. The NPOP was accorded equivalency by the European Union for its regulation on Organic Agriculture EC 2092/91. That means that any product certified according to NPOP can have ready access to European markets without the need for separate EU Certification. The USDA has also recognized the accreditation system adopted by India under NPOP, which means that all the Certification Agencies accredited under NPOP can inspect and certify according to USDA National Organic Programme (NOP) with the need for separate accreditation by USDA. At present there are nearly 20 accredited certification agencies in India. For more details on NPOP log on to www.apeda.com
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Methodology of Crop Forecasting/Estimation of Coffee in India
• Prior to liberalization of coffee market, the crop estimates were fairly accurate owing to mandatory crop returns from estates and periodical information from other sources as pool agents / curing works.
• Consequent to dismantling of the pooling system the only avenue available to the Board is crop estimations through the extension network. Till 2000/01 crop season, forecast/estimation was carried out by extension officers with respect to their zones, which was then aggregated at zone/district/state level to arrive at crop estimates. These forecasts were mostly subjective.
• From 2001-02 season onwards, crop forecasts are made more scientific using sampling methods. For the 2001-02 season, the crop forecasts were based on 889 randomly selected estates across different size categories of holdings in 43 coffee zones of traditional coffee growing areas. In order to achieve greater accuracy the sample size is almost doubled to 1500 estates from the season 2002-03 and further increased the sample size to 2000 from 2007-08 onwards.
• The current methodology provides for a stratified multi stage random sampling technique with the size of the estates (holding size) in each zone. In this sampling frame-work, the basic strata of the population are the species of coffee (arabica or robusta) and size of the holdings (with nine categories).
• In order to maintain the proportionality of strata of the population, the samples in each of the strata were drawn following the Population. Proportion to Size (PPS) criteria, which, in this case is the proportion of planted area across different zones and holding size categories.
• From each zone and each specified category the required number of sample of estates are drawn randomly. It is ensured that these samples are distributed fairly well across different villages of a zone.
• Presently Extension officers are adopting ‘visual method’ assessment of crop after due consideration of last four years realized crop, extent of bearing wood, rains during critical stages (Blossom, backing, monsoon), grower opinion etc.
• In each of the selected sample estates forecasts are made three times in a season representing, post-blossom (May-June), post-monsoon (October-November) and final (March-April). Details on yielding area and estimated production are recorded together with other parameters as rainfall, pest and diseases etc. Also, reasons for variations in production between the forecasts, is fully accounted for.
• Production of particular category of the zone is obtained by multiplying the average productivity of the corresponding category sample estates in that zone with bearing area under the category. Such production of each size category is then aggregated to arrive at the zonal production. Aggregation is further taken up to the level of "districts" and states.
• For the non-traditional areas of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and North Eastern states, the respective zone's official estimates are used.
Hence, the ‘visual method’ of crop estimation is being followed now also.
The accuracy of crop estimates would depends on two factors viz., estimation methodology and database on extent of are under different varieties and categories of holdings. There is a need to update the data on the coffee area by a detailed census, to reduce the degree of error in crop estimates.
You may please forward your comments and suggestions on this subject along with forecast, if any, to
The Deputy Director (Market Research), Coffee Board, Bangalore
e-mail id:
ageconomist[dot]cb[at]gmail[dot]com
Distribution of samples across the states / coffee zones / size categories
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