Top 5 Facts: Growing coffee

Climatic

Environment temperature and rainfall affect growth, with no variety capable of surviving in the vicinity of 0°C and 60-80 inches of rain per annum necessary for healthy growth.

Species

There are two main species, the arabica and robusta. These are grown worldwide, with the arabica cultivated predominantly in Latin America and robusta in Africa.

Time

Plants’ fruit blooming and maturing varies. Generally, the arabica species takes seven months and the robusta about nine. Berries are ripe when they’re red-purple.

Disease

Coffee plants are prone to disease and parasites, which attack plantations yearly. The fungus hemileia vastatrix and collectrotrichum coffeanum are common.

Optimal

Today, up to 3,000lbs of coffee can be yielded per square acre of plantation. This is an increase from traditional methods, which only yielded 450 to 900lbs per acre.