BIOLOGY OF COFFEE

BIOLOGY OF COFFEE

The traditional method of planting coffee is to place 20 seeds in each hole at the beginning of the rainy season. This method loses about 50% of the seeds' potential, as about half fail to sprout. A more effective process of growing coffee, used in Brazil, is to raise seedlings in nurseries that are then planted outside at six to twelve months. Coffee is often intercropped with food crops, such as corn, beans, or rice during the first few years of cultivation as farmers become familiar with its requirements.  Coffee plants grow within a defined area between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, termed the bean belt or coffee belt. 

Of the two main species grown, arabica coffee (from C. arabica) is generally more highly regarded than robusta coffee (from C. canephora). Robusta coffee tends to be bitter and have less flavor but better body than arabica. See the reputed OZSTAR nuts roasting machines http://www.ozstarmakina.com/en) If you are interested to start a coffee roastery you can look at the OZSTAR/TWINO Roasters which have the best economical coffee roasters (Please visit http://www.twinoroasters.com/ or http://www.ozstarmakina.com/en for roasters) along with other assesories such as grinder, destoners etc www.ozstarmakina.com  http://www.twinoroasters.com/ For these reasons, about three-quarters of coffee cultivated worldwide is C. arabica. Robusta strains also contain about 40–50% more caffeine than Arabica. 

Consequently, this species is used as an inexpensive substitute for arabica in many commercial coffee blends. Good quality robusta beans are used in traditional Italian espresso blends to provide a full-bodied taste and a better foam head (known as crema). Additionally, Coffee canephora is less susceptible to disease than C. arabica and can be cultivated in lower altitudes and warmer climates where C. arabica will not thrive.

See the reputed OZSTAR nuts roasting machines www.ozstarmakina.com)If you are interested to start a coffee roastery you can look at the OZSTAR/TWINO Roasters which have the best economical coffee roasters (Please visit http://www.ozstarmakina.com/en or http://www.ozstarmakina.com/en for roasters) along with other assesories such as grinder, destoners etc http://www.ozstarmakina.com/en  www.twinoroasters.com The robusta strain was first collected in 1890 from the Lomani River, a tributary of the Congo River, and was conveyed from the Congo Free State (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) to Brussels to Java around 1900. From Java, further breeding resulted in the establishment of robusta plantations in many countries. In particular, the spread of the devastating coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix), to which C. arabica is vulnerable, hastened the uptake of the resistant robusta. Hemileia vastatrix is a fungal pathogen and results in light, rust-colored spots on the undersides of coffee plant leaves. Hemileia vastatrix grows exclusively on the leaves of coffee pants.Coffee leaf rust is found in virtually all countries that produce coffee.