Upload
buyorganiccoffee
View
31
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
The Biology ofShade Grown Organic
CoffeeBy
www.BuyOrganicCoffee.org
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Coffee has lots of great health benefits and
healthy organic coffee is the best as going
organic helps you avoid more than a hundred
impurities that can be found in cup of regular
coffee.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
We know that certified organic coffee is
better for the environment as organic coffee
farming follows sustainable practices.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
These practices for coffee include
interspersing coffee among shade trees to
secure the soil and provide shade for coffee
plants.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
The use of commercial fertilizers is limited
and pest control requires natural practices as
opposed to chemical insecticides and
fungicides.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
All of this sounds very straightforward from a
distance but just what is the biology of shade
grown organic coffee? Why does coffee like
the shade?
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Why does coffee grow best in mountainous
terrain under cloud cover? Here are a few
thoughts about the biology of shade grown
organic coffee.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Where Coffee Originated
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Coffee evolved in the forested highlands of
East Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan).
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Here is where the plant became accustomed
to the seasons, degree of rainfall, soil
conditions and pests.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
From an evolutionary viewpoint coffee has
arrived way to fast in various locations around
the world and cannot be expected to adapt
without some forethought and help in its new
locations such as Brazil, Colombia or
Vietnam.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Nevertheless coffee is planted and flourishes
in these locations. And coffee does best
where the conditions are similar to where it
grew up.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
The biology of shade grown organic coffee is
such that growing coffee in the shade
resembles how the plant was meant to grow.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Basic Plant Biology and
the Coffee Perspective
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Plants use photosynthesis to convert sunlight
to energy and along the way convert carbon
dioxide in the air in order to grow and exhale
oxygen.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Plants need nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus
and other nutrients. And if they get too much
of these and if they get too much sun light
they need huge amounts of water as well.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
But too much water can drown the roots of a
plant, including a coffee plant and make it
sick.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Thus there is an advantage to the biology of
shade grown organic coffee in that the terrain
of the mountainside keeps water from
flooding the plant and the forest canopy limits
the amount of sunlight powering growth.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Organic coffee farming uses less of the
chemicals that fuel growth but also uses an
appropriate amount so that the plant does not
need excessive amounts of water.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Location, Location,
Location
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Picking the spot for growing Arabica coffee is
a lot like dealing with real estate, location,
location and location.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Arabica organic coffee likes a temperature
range between 15 and 24 degrees Celsius.
(That’s 59 degrees to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.)
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
This sort of temperature range is found in the
land of eternal spring along the mountainous
spine that runs from southern Mexico to
Ecuador and Brazil.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Soil quality and soil management are
important but it starts with an ideal location
and ideally a shady one.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Avoidance of Coffee Leaf
Rust
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
The fungal disease that can devastate coffee
crops is more prevalent where coffee is
planted too closely together, when they are
planted in full sun and where it is planted in
warmer locations.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1367/the-biology-of-shade-grown-organic-coffee/
Growing organic coffee under forest cover at
higher altitudes is a better approach if you
want to avoid coffee leaf rust than planting
tightly spaced coffee at lower altitude in full
sun.