Robusta for smallholders: But

The Practical Planter

Robusta for smallholders: But check on markets first

By Don Barrett, in Rabaul

Anybody wanting to plant coffee these days should explore marketing prospects first because of export limitations under the International Coffee Agreement. In New Guinea there is general concern that coffee may already be in over-production. Most of the coffee grown in the territory is Arabica; and such Robusta as is cultivated is usually found on smallholdings.

COFFEE is a hardy plant but it is unwise to accept this fact with out some reservations. For example, the coffee nursery needs adequate shade as does the young plant.

Failure to provide it often leads to unhealthy yellow-leaved plants. Basic ally Robusta will thrive at elevations up to 1,500 ft. While being amenable to heavy rainfall it does require good drainage and does not take kindly to heavy clay type soils, preferring loose friable soils where its largely surface roots can spread freely.

Since it is necessary to keep a coffee plantation free of weeds, thorough preparation of the area in tended for planting is an advantage.

It is useful to clean far more care fully than would normally be done for cocoa. Although it is somewhat tedious, cutting and heaping fallen timber prior to burning helps to pre serve much of the natural mulch which will be greatly appreciated by young coffee when planted out.

As the area to be planted will be far less than with cocoa (as a general rule) this additional effort will not cost much more. Furthermore, in many areas on Islands coasts a com plete burn is an invitation to kunai —one of the worst enemies of the Robusta coffee farmer.

Nursery needed early

A nursery should be established early. Natural shade can be used quite effectively or a simple shade house can be built. In any case an area of good loose soil in a well drained location should be chosen.

The actual nursery beds are worked just as if a vegetable garden were being prepared. The big time saver in the coffee nursery, as against the cocoa nursery, is that the coffee beans

The Practical Planter is a new section in PIM. It is written by people with practical experience. The section first appeared in January. It will be published each month from now on.

are not planted in plastic bags or other containers, but straight into the ground.

A common fault in planting coffee seed in nurseries is to set the seed too deep. I have seen this mistake made very often. A good bush rule is to set the seed no deeper than the fingernail width of the index finger—roughly half an inch. The coffee bean has a straight side and a convex side. It is usual to set the straight side DOWN with the con vex side UPWARDS.

Planting intervals

Self-sown coffee, somtimes seen in an ill-kept farm, seems to come up from an angle, but how often is this sort of contradiction apparent when we take things from a natural en vironment and put them into an artificial one? To be safe, plant the straight side down.

Germination time varies with climatic conditions but should be no more than six weeks. If a dry spell comes along after the seed is planted hand-watering is necessary but not so as to “force” the germination.

Try to maintain normal conditions.

While the coffee is growing in the nursery the area to be planted can be lined and shade set out. Opinions differ as to the best interval for Robusta coffee—as they do with virtually every tropical crop. Where rainfall is over 100 inches and soil

is loose and well drained 10 ft by 10 ft would be a minimum.

I have planted at 9 ft by 9 ft but under good conditions this is too close and can lead to some overcrowding as trees grow older. It also makes for difficulties in harvesting as lateral branches which bear the fruit become partly inter-twined. Do not plant at less than 10 ft by 10 ft.

The farm may be lined on the triangle or on the square. Again this is a matter of individual preference.

Perhaps the triangle planting gives a

little freer access to all trees as they grow.

Leucena glauca (lamtoro) is a commonly used shade and may be planted from seed or from seedlings where these are available, or from cuttings. It is a hardy tree but good rains are needed to get your shade established. It is a waste of time and labour to plant in parched soil and in a dry spell of weather. Seed or cut tings set out when the soil is really soggy after heavy rains should be assured of germination or striking.

Shade species

In most coastal regions leucena glauca is a rampant grower and a heavy seeder. It has a tough wood.

Since much of the initial shade will be cut out as the coffee matures it is wise to plant sparingly. Use as little shade as possible consistent with a good cover for the young coffee and to inhibit the growth of weeds or grass.

Another useful shade is gliricidia maculata. This is a particularly quick growing soft-wooded tree grown from cuttings only. It tends to make long cane-like branches which while they require fairly constant pruning provide good mulch and are much

easier to cut than leucena glauca.

Where available I would favour gliricidia maculata because of its non seeding habit. A fair density of shade plantings for the new farm area is one tree between each coffee stake or alternatively a line of shade be tween each proposed line of coffee at a 10 ft interval—that is 10 ft between shade in the lines of shade.

There is not the same urgency to set out your coffee seedlings as there is with cocoa. As coffee does not have a large tap-root the seedlings can be left much longer without much danger of damage to root system. ...

It is unwise to lift seedlings with less than eight leaves—about eight or 10 in. high. On the other hand it is quite possible to plant out trees that are well over 12 months old and two ft high provided normal care is A seedling with a strong stalk (and even leaves) about 12 in. high should be a good average specimen. When lifting seedlings soil may be balled but it is also possible to lift with a minimum of soil providing trans planting is immediate, roots are in tact and are not unduly exposed.

Shade control important

A properly prepared hole for each seedling is a necessity, if the young trees are to be given a good start.

It is surprising how often such pre paration is neglected. The hole needs to be large enough to take the young plant’s root system without this being twisted or bunched, and soil well worked to a depth that will allow the roots to spread quickly. Finally soil around the base of the plant must be well tamped down —another basic need often neglected. A little mulch around the young plant should com plete the planting out.

As the young coffee grows it is essential to keep the ground around the plants clean weeded; this is be cause coffee feeds greedily on the surface and does not like competition from grass or other plants. This is one of the qualifications to its being a hardy plant.

Shade control now becomes im portant. It is quite likely that a few plants at the edge of your plantings will show a slight yellowing of leaves due to exposure to direct sunlight.

Do not worry about this, some plants have to be on the outside, and in any case as they grow older they will strengthen up. If your main body of plants is showing a yellow ing in leaves then you have in sufficient shade. If your shade is too dense your coffee plants will be spindly.

When the young coffee plants are

three or four ft high they should be "topped”. This prevents a tree-like growth and helps to produce a bush, which is essential for ease of harvesting. Normally topping is necessary to induce early lateral growth but some few plants may produce laterals at an early age; provided these are not growing too high they need not

be topped.

Once the young trees have been topped continual attention is necessary to cut out water shoots which will appear in abundance at the top of the tree and will sap much energy if not moved quickly. Since the lateral branches will be the bearing wood all strength must get to these.

Shade control must be continued.

In the main this will consist of thinning out. If you use leucena glauca you will need to strip the bark from the stumps otherwise you will get a rapid and vigorous regeneration.

With gliricidia maculata there is a tendency in damp weather for cut branches to sprout where they lie.

This can be overcome by a few swift blows with a machete.

Again with leucena there is the problem of seedlings. These are best dealt with by letting them grow from eight in. to 12 in. and then pulling by hand. If cut with any sort of grass

knife the small stems will shoot again and after several cuttings you will have a spiky little underfoot jungle which is really hard to remove. The old fashioned hand-weeding cannot be surpassed.

Weeding essential

Clean weeding of the farm is also a continuing essential. When the coffee is young it may be necessary to feed quite frequently. As the plants become bigger and make their own cover the interval between weed ings will be greater. Any sort of dense grass is likely to cause real setbacks to young coffee.

Loose weeds may not be so damag ing but any general cover which com petes for surface moisture will affect growth of the coffee.

Quite a lot of people who have never grown coffee seem to fear the amount of work involved. Taking all factors into account there is really very little more work in establishing a Robusta coffee plantation than from establishing a cocoa and coconut plantation.

And one bonus attends the coffee grower to date —the almost total absence of serious pest or disease

problems.