Planting conditions and Regional Distribution of Coffee trees species of Coffee trees planting altitude

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Planting and Regional Distribution of Coffee trees

Climate is the decisive factor for coffee cultivation. Coffee trees are only suitable for growing in the tropics or subtropics, so the zone between latitude 25 degrees south and north is generally called coffee belt or coffee area. However, not all the land located in this area can produce good coffee trees.

At present, coffee is grown in more than 70 countries in the world, all of which are located in the "coffee growth zone" with the equator as the center and between the latitudes of 25 degrees south and north. The "coffee growth zone" basically has five ideal natural conditions for the growth of coffee trees:

The four seasons are as warm as spring (18-25 degrees) and moderate rainfall (1500-2250mm). To be able to match the flowering cycle of the coffee tree.

A geographical environment with sufficient sunshine and good ventilation and drainage. However, too strong sunlight will inhibit the growth of coffee trees, so various producing areas will usually cooperate with the planting of some shade trees.

Coffee trees flourish most in soils filled with nitrogen, potassium carbonate and phosphoric acid.

The ideal altitude is 500m / 2000m.

There is absolutely no frost.

It can be seen that the conditions for the cultivation of high-quality coffee are quite strict: sunlight, rainfall, soil, altitude, air temperature, as well as the way coffee beans are harvested and the production process will affect the quality of coffee itself. Under the premise of ensuring a temperature of about 20 degrees, the higher the altitude or the closest to the Tropic of Cancer, the stronger the unique flavor of coffee.

-the growth and harvest of coffee trees-

To grow into a high-harvest and high-quality coffee tree, it is necessary to take good care of and select the seedlings. Generally, they begin to sprout about 40 days after sowing, and then transplant them to the greenhouse before they can grow into saplings. Only when the saplings grow to 40-50 cm high can they choose the healthier saplings to be transplanted to the farm. This practice is more traditional, but only in this way can the quality of coffee be guaranteed from the source.

After 5 years, the saplings grow into coffee trees, and then cut off the trunk of the tree every 8-9 years to make it grow again and control the height of the tree. After repeating this for 2 or 3 times, the harvest period of coffee trees can be as long as 30 years.

Coffee is a tropical plant, but it can't be exposed to sunlight all day long. In some areas, legume trees and banana trees are planted among coffee trees to protect them from the sun. This is called a sunshade tree. Such as Colombia, Ethiopia and so on. Costa Rica, Brazil and other places do not need these sunshade trees because of the right sunshine time.

When the coffee fruit is ripe, it should be harvested immediately, but when there are fruits of different ripening stages on the same tree, harvesting is not an easy task, which is time-consuming and labor-consuming. Generally speaking, it takes as long as 4 to 5 months to complete the harvest from the early harvest, but if the ripe and immature fruits are picked at the same time, the quality of coffee will be reduced.

-Coffee tree species-

Coffee trees can be divided into two main varieties: Arabica (Arabica) and Robusta (Robusta). There are also some minor species, such as the Liberian species (Liberica) and the Alabasta species (Arabusta), but they are rare on the market.

Although Arabica and Roberta are widely cultivated there are significant differences between them. Beans are different and tree species grow differently so their use is not the same. The world's production of Arabica beans is about 70%, while Robosta and others account for 30%.

Arabica can produce rich oil, aroma overflowing, and there will be a very light layer of dark yellow oil floating on the surface. Roberta can produce more grease, but it has a lot of foam and disappears quickly. Roberta contains twice as much caffeine as Arabica. The caffeine content is 2.2-2.4% and 1.1-1.3% respectively. If too much robusta is added to the Italian concentrate, it will taste like a gelatinous drug.

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