Why is the Philippines the largest producer of crops in Liberia?

Today's commercial coffee market is carved up by Arabica and Robusta as we know it. They are the small and medium seeds of the three major varieties of coffee, and in this vast market, there is only a lack of space for the three major varieties of large-grain "Liberica".

Liberica grows in low-altitude forests and gets its name from its discovery site, Liberia, a small country in western Africa. Because the tree species in Liberia can grow to a height of 6 to 20 meters, the fruit will be larger than Arabica and Robusta, so people give it the name "big seed"!

Although it is large, it does not have the same amount of caffeine as Robusta does. For example, we can often hear the comparative description of Robusta and Arabica, describing that Robusta's advantage has always been: large, high caffeine, drinking can make people feel better. This can't help but make people tie size to caffeine! In fact, it is not. Libby is big, but it holds even less caffeine than Arabica!

On the surface of scientific research, the caffeine in Robusta accounts for about 2-4% of its soybean weight; the caffeine in Arabica accounts for about 1.2% of its soybean weight, while that of Liberica is only about 1%! Although the caffeine content of Librika is much lower than that of the other two varieties, the flavor is not so excellent, but mainly with heavy smoky aroma! It even has the negative taste of "wild" dirt and wood, which is completely inferior to the other two varieties of coffee beans. Some even describe its taste as liquid tobacco, and its dull, melancholy flavor is very similar to the smell of hay when it burns. Therefore, the Philippines, the most widely grown place in Liberia, will refer to the coffee grown in Liberia as "tough guy coffee".

Liberica is planted because of its tall shape, which makes it difficult for people to pick, so even if it was discovered as early as the 19th century, not many people would plant it widely, except for the Philippines we mentioned above.

We can hardly see beans produced by the Philippines on the market, mainly because the current coffee production in the Philippines can only meet the strong demand for local coffee. Surprisingly, their planting time is extremely different from the output. After all, people actually started growing Arabica as early as 1740. In the 1880s, the Philippines even jumped to become the world's fourth largest coffee producer, which is quite different from what it is today. However, early coffee-growing areas must not escape the nightmares caused by leaf rust, including the Philippines. In 1889, leaf rust, which swept through many countries, finally spread to the Philippines. Leaf rust and serious insect pests reduced Philippine coffee production by 80% in two years, and a large number of farmers switched to other economic crops. The Philippine coffee industry has stagnated for 50 years! Until the 1950s, in order to revive the glory of the coffee industry, the Philippine government introduced varieties with excellent disease resistance, Robusta and Liberica, and planned a five-year plan to revive the Philippine coffee industry within five years. As a matter of fact, the plan was a success.

In 1962, the Philippines finally stopped relying on imported coffee and its coffee production returned to self-sufficiency. Among them, a lot of demand comes from instant coffee factories across the Philippines, and the "tough guy flavor" Liberika is one of their needs, although they need more Robusta. But this is enough to allow the Philippines to climb to the largest grower in Liberia. After all, few other countries will grow it on a large scale.

As mentioned at the beginning, there is no place for Liberika in the current coffee business market. If you plant it in the way of Arabica, like Robusta, I wonder if you can grow a "boutique" Liberika like Robusta.

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