Coffee comes from the Latin form of the genus Coffea , a member of the Rubiaceae family which includes more than 500 genera and 6,000 species of tropical trees and shrubs. Other members of the family include the gardenias and plants which yield quinine and other useful substances, but Coffea is by far the most important member of the family economically.
Eighteenth century Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) first described the genus but, to this day, botanists still disagree on the classification because of the wide variations that occur in coffee plants and seeds. Linnaeus classified the coffee shrubs in the family Rubiaceae comprising 4,500 species of which 60 are called 'coffea'. Species of coffea range from small shrubs to trees as tall as 32 feet high and the leaves can range in color from purple to yellow, however, green is the predominant color.
Coffee is a tropical plant which grows between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn but requires very specific environmental conditions for commercial cultivation. Temperature, rainfall, sunlight, wind and soils are all important, but requirements vary according to the varieties grown. All coffee needs good drainage, but it can grow on soils of different depths, pH and mineral content, given suitable applications of fertilizer.
Frost is the worst climatic event that could affect a coffee plantation. Though an unusual occurrence (approximately once every 20 years at latitudes above 20 degrees), one night below 0 degrees Celsius is enough to cause extensive defoliation with little hope of later plant recovery. Plantation altitude and local wind and rainfall conditions may affect this phenomenon - the highest danger from frost being in southern Brazil or, closer to the Equator, at altitudes around 2,000 meters.
Cultivation of coffee trees begins with planting the seeds in potting soil and tended in nurseries for 9 to 18 months, until they reach a height of 18 to 24 inches when they are transplanted to permanent groves. Once planted, the bean, enclosed in its endocarp, develops rootlets in the soil and rises up at the top of a fragile stem. When the bean falls, two round "cotyledon" leaves appear, forming the shoot. It takes a year for the plant to reach just 30 centimeters tall.
After three to four years, when they reach maturity, coffee plants bear fruit in lines or clusters along their branches. The fruit turns red and cherry-like when it is ready to be harvested. Depending on the type of coffee plant, the cherry takes between 6 to 11 months to ripen.
The traditional way to grow coffee trees is to grow compatible trees nearby, to keep the coffee trees and their developing fruit from the sun. Often these are economic crops as well, such as bananas which mimic the natural habitat of coffee. The modern techniques are to use irrigation systems and fertilizers. Coffee is grown on both large estates and in the smallest of forest clearings.
Manpower availability affects the planting style determining plant density. Also field operations like pruning and weed control are implemented in different ways according to local labor situations. Pruning is seldom implemented due to the high labor requirement - only when the shrubs grow too tall to be harvested without the aid of a ladder are the higher branches cut to keep the plant no taller than around 2 meters.
Many pests and diseases can affect the coffee plant or its fruits, the most dangerous being:
Pest control is important to improve yield and product quality, and often even to assure the very plantation's survival.
Artificial addition of manure or chemical fertilizers is seldom used in coffee farms. Sometimes just cut weeds and coffee cherry pulp deriving from crop processing are spread between rows. Of course soil depletion follows if many years of coffee growing are not alternated with different crops.
There are about 25 major species within Coffea , but the typical coffee drinker is likely to be familiar with just two: Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora (var. robusta ). Arabica is autogamous, that is to say, capable of fertilising itself, whereas Robusta is allogamous.
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