[Activity Report]Nursery Management and Agronomy of Coffee Seminar & Workshop

 

Date： Sep 11-15, 2023
Venue: Pigtauranan, Pangantucan, Bukidnon Province, Philippines
Speakers: Renjie N. Lucas and Emeline Sabado from PhilCafe
Organizer： PhilCafe(Philippine Coffee Advancement and Farm Enterprise), in partnership with the Barista Coffee Academy of Asia (BCAA)
Reporter： Lily Jamias

PhilCafe conducted the seminar in partnership with the Barista Coffee Academy of Asia (BCAA) for coffee farmers, educators, and coffee value chains that can share ideas with farmers. This was conducted on September 11-15, 2023, in Pigtauranan, Pangantucan, Bukidnon, to 25 coffee growers, enthusiasts, and researchers. Vina Picpican from Tublay, Benguet Province, and Lily Jamias of Kapi Tako Social Enterprise and Cordillera Green Network Inc., together with other participants from around the Philippines, were granted a 5-day scholarship.

The foundation of a successful agroforestry farm is the soil and the seeds. Farming is the source of staple food; it is a business and a livelihood. Coffee farming is a potential livelihood because it generates good income for a family. It also improves the farmers' work venue (soil and air). Coffee farming sustains a coffee farmer's economy and environment, making it advantageous compared to other crops.

Nursery management

A good harvest has no shortcut; it always depends on the seeds used as planting materials and the soil.

In selecting seeds for planting materials, choose from a single variety; it should be true-to-type, harvested from 4 to 10 years old, healthy and vigorous coffee trees, tolerant to pests and diseases, with a good cup quality, and harvested between October and January. Float the cherries, remove the floaters, and use the sinkers. Remove the mucilage through any medium, such as fermentation, submerging the parchment in water or fermenting without water, and using ash for covering. The mucilage should be washed thoroughly to avoid the development of fungus, then dried for 2 to 3 days in a well-ventilated place.

One way of removing mucilage by covering wood ash

After 2-3 days, it can be directly sown in a chamber or a tray. But if it is stored, it should be kept at 20% moisture content, and then the seeds should be packed with a proper label (variety, date of harvest, weight, origin). The nursery and sowing area should be readily available months before the collection of seeds. In sowing the seeds, remove the elephant, peaberry, crack triangle,  and small beans to ensure a good harvest. Soak the seeds in water before sowing them; if the seeds are still bubbling, the seeds are still absorbing water. Wait until they stop absorbing before sowing the seeds. Sow the seeds in the germination chamber and mist the seeds every day.

Sowing of seeds in germination chamber

Normally, the seeds will start to germinate for 3 to 5 days in the chamber; they can be transplanted after nine days when the peduncle is about 3 to 9 cm long. Transplanting can be done every day from the chamber to pots, and every time, some seeds are ready for transplanting. But seeds that do not germinate for up to 30 days will be discarded. This technique will produce fewer "J-roots" and avoid the disturbance of roots in transplanting. Thus, it entails 90 to 100% seedling quality.

Another way to germinate seedlings is by sowing the seed in a tray covered with wet cloth or tissue. Daily misting of water is also needed. The seeds are stored or kept in a room to avoid disturbance and drying up to fasten the germination.

 Seeds are sown in a tray covered with wet tissue

The seedlings should be transplanted on-site in about 8 to 10 months or with 4 to 6 pairs of leaves. For more than 10 months and 6 pairs of leaves, the seedlings can be overgrown, and they will start to develop a "J-root," which can be a problem in absorbing nutrients.

Another way to produce planting materials is through asexual propagation. This propagation is applicable in robusta. Asexual propagation of robusta is being recommended since fewer nurseries cater to robusta. Robusta at least needs the 4 cultivars (FRT1, FRT7, FRT11, FRT17, FRT23, FRT65) to cross-pollinate to produce beans. Grafting in arabica is also recommended if there is an infestation of coffee, but as to its true-to-type, arabica is self-pollinated. Asexual propagation through grafting and stem cutting. The source of buds (clonal garden) should have good phenotypic characteristics, the same as selecting seeds for sowing. Grafted seedlings are taken care of inside a nursery with a plastic covering to prevent overexposure to light and air.

Maintenance of seedlings, whether from seeds or asexual fertilization, watering, and maintenance of shade, is essential. The usual diseases of seedlings are:

1. Damping off- caused by too much watering and the development of fungus. Treat the potting media, expose the nursery to sunlight, and avoid too much shade (30% shade) and water.
2. Brown eye-pot- seedlings are overgrown, and a small polybag (3'x3'x10) is used. The seedlings are stressed, overwatering, and too much sunlight. Plant the seedlings with 4 to 6 pairs of leaves to avoid this disease and the development of "J-roots." The nursery should be 30% shaded and avoid too much watering.

Coffee also needs nutrients to reach its maximum production potential. The macro-nutrients that coffee trees need are Nitrogen (N) -responsible for growth, development of new shoots, and the green color;  Phosphorous (P) -development of roots and more significant support; Potassium (K) -responsible for the hardening of tissue; Magnesium (mg) -responsible for the development of plant and photosynthesis;  Sulfur (S) -essential to produce chlorophyll; and Calcium (Ca)-responsible in development of roots and hardening of cell wall.

These are photos of common nutrient deficiencies in coffee leaves

 

▼Boron deficiency 

▼Nitrogen deficiency

▼Phosphorous deficiency 

▼Calcium deficiency

▼Magnesium deficiency

When piled seedlings are growing, segregate the seedlings according to size, remove the seedlings that are suppressed, and then pile them with space to allow them to grow. Remove seedlings with diseases and put them away or outside the nursery. 

Expose the seedlings to sunlight 2 months before the field planting to harden them; this will help the seedlings adapt easily to the new environment.

Transplanting

In field planting, use an "A" frame to have accurate uniform spacing and plant it based on the contour of the field. The planting distance is 3mx3m, and the size of the holes is 60cmx40cm. Separate the loam soil from the subsoil. In planting, put green manure first, then the top/loam soil, and put 1 kilo of organic fertilizer, then the subsoil, then inorganic fertilizer such as 14-14-14 or 16-16-16 if preferred. Then, after 1 month, put the lime (when the soil is acidic). Since coffee farming is a  business and a source of livelihood, a soil test is needed to know how much fertilizer is required and if lime is needed. Coffee bears fruit in 3 years, so experiments and trial planting are not recommended.

 Lay-outing of the farm using "A" frame

 An agroforestry system or integrated farming is recommended as a technique for planting coffee. Planting in an agroforestry system affects the cupping quality of coffee. One factor in the development of the taste of coffee is the farm management done by farmers. Every activity done in the coffee affects the cupping quality. 

Agroforestry types related to coffee:

●Home Garden- a combination of fruit trees, medicinal plants, timber trees, and coffee
●Perennial crop base system- coffee shaded by perennial crops such as yellow cedar
●Shifting cultivation- integrating coffee with annual crops such as corn, cassava, or beans
●Alley cropping- planting of coffee between rows of fast-growing shrubs such as kakawate, ipil-ipil or calliandra
●Improve fallows- involves planting coffee with nitrogen-fixing trees after a period of fallow. Improve fallows, improve soil fertility, suppress weeds, and reduce pests.

In Bukidnon, coffee farmers integrated the coffee with falcata (Falcataria falcata) and Brazilian fire tree (Schizolubium parahyba), which can be harvested for toothpicks and handles of phosphor (match stick). These woods have economic value (can be harvested in 5 years) and nutrient value for coffee (nitrogen-fixing trees); also, they are valuable to the environment. Other shades integrated are banana and abaca (Musa textilis), additional products sold in the community. 

In planting areas, plants and trees that attract or habitat birds. Birds can control pests of coffee. Coffees that are integrated with trees are proven to have fewer insects and diseases.

In considering shade trees, trees should absorb less water; it should not interfere with soil moisture; it should be deep-rooted (to avoid the competition of nutrients with coffee); it will not compete with nutrients; It should not compete with sunlight (arabica needs 30-40% sunlight while robusta needs more sunlight of about 20%); if possible leguminous species which fix atmospheric nitrogen in the air, fruit trees such as jackfruit, avocado, coconut, citrus, lanzones, etc., and native trees are also recommended.

The density of the farm with integrated crops usually contains 1,400 trees/ha with a spacing of 3.5mx2.0m integrated with other fruit trees or shade trees. Normally, 4kg of cherries are harvested per tree in its 2nd to 4th year from planting.

Agroforestry Plan

Every participant must make their agroforestry plan based on what they learned from the Nursery management and Coffee Agronomy presentations. The plan is your current farm of participants that will be improved through how you integrate the learning you learned. For this, I presented the CGN project in Tadian, where we conserve our Lakon through agro-forestation. The purpose of Agroforestry-Lakon is for soil protection and for production. The forest in a Lakon is to maintain the water source and to keep the soil from eroding. It is for protection because it maintains the rice terraces. Since there are cases of erosion of rice terraces, planting the taban of Lakon will help sustain the soil. The taban is usually for Kaingin purposes, but integrated planting will help neutralize the acidity and holding of the soil nutrients. Planting coffee trees is also an additional source of income, while rice produce is to suffice the rice needs of every family.

Agroforestry farm plan

Farm visits

Most of the laboratory or fieldwork was conducted in Equilibrium Agroforestry Farm. The farm is dominated by robusta integrated with falcata trees and abaca. The abacas were planted as temporary shade while waiting for the falcata to be able to shade the robusta coffee. When falcata is grown, the abaca will be eradicated.

Another farm visited was one of the members of Pigtauranan Farmers Cooperative. The farm is an agroforestry pioneer system where the Brazilian fire tree was integrated into robusta coffee, also mixed with bananas. The farm was one of the winners of the Philippine Coffee Quality Contest (PCQC). The farm was observed to have fewer cherries compared to the open robusta farm, but there is no evidence of diseases and pests. 

Own by number 2 PCQC winner

 Another farm we visited was a farm with pioneer trees planted at the boundaries and old rejuvenated robusta coffee trees inside the pioneer trees. The robusta coffee trees are planted in random spacing, and cultivars of robustas are mostly the same. Fewer cherries were developed maybe because of few robusta trees can pollinate with each other.

Another farm was the farm 2 of Equilibrium. It is newly established with Brazilian fire trees as shade trees and Pacamara, newly introduced arabica cultivars are planted, and the lower half of the 3-hectare plantation is the Bukidnon Typica. The farm is for experimental purposes only. 

 Equilibrium Arabica farm

                        

We also visited the Pigtauranan Farmers Cooperative. This cooperative buys the coffee (Robusta and Arabica) in the community. The government assisted them with drying processing facilities. There 2 of the members won in the PCQC. The cooperative processes the cherries, so they buy in cherries. The cooperative sells coffee to companies such as Equilibrium. The Equilibrium assisted this cooperative when drying facilities were not enough. Last year, the cooperative produced 22 tons of coffee green beans. Another product of the cooperative is Abaca and roasted coffee.

 Processing center of Pigtauranan Farmers Cooperative