Page 25 - APPD_Something's_Brewing_May_June'24(5Jun24)

Sustainability

Roberto is no different. During the Cafeology
Growing coffee
rainy season, Roberto, his son, and
grandsons apply 450g of fertiliser per
tree, every 2 months. This fertiliser is Additionally, every 10
an optimal mixture of Nitrogen and metres there are
phosphorus for growth; Potassium for leguminous trees.
coffee body/mouth feel; Boron to help Leguminous trees fix
blossom; and Zinc for flower fertility. Nitrogen in the soil which
The fertiliser needs to be 19% Nitrogen is a natural way to
which is impossible to get with organic increase the available
fertilisers (typically ~3%), without Nitrogen for all the nearby
adding vast quantities, which is costly coffee trees. These
and impractical and introduces too Legumes are pruned every

many other components. year to help produce more
leaf litter and organic
However, Roberto does not solely rely material for the ground.
on inorganic fertiliser. Leaf litter is
constantly underfoot when traversing
the plantations, which suppresses Another essential part of
weeds (shade helps too) but also agriculture is disease
decomposes to add nutrients back into control. Coffee gets
the soil. Roberto aids this diseases, just like we do,
decomposition by adding good fungus and one big problem is
(Trichoderma) to the soil (5 oz per 200 L leaf rust (aka La Roya).

of water). Leaf rust is caused by a
bad fungus Hemileia
vastatrix which covers
leaves in spores that look
like rust. These spores
hamper the leaf's ability to
photosynthesise by
physically covering it
(blocking light) and/or
causing the leaves to
drop.

Thedisease spreads
through physical contact
tree-to-tree and you can
diagnose a tree by
rubbing the rust… if it MAY/JUNE. 2024 | ISSUE 36
comes off = infected, if it
stays on = controlled. Best
case scenario, the rust is
A leaf recovering from a rust attack minor and under control.

www.beveragestandardsassociation.co.uk