Introduction to varieties grown in the coffee producing areas of Venezuela in South America

In South America, the soil and growth conditions are very suitable for growing coffee, so there are many coffee producing countries, such as Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela and other countries, among which Venezuela is less well-known, but can still produce high-quality coffee.

Venezuela Venezuela

Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (Bolivariana de Venezuela) is located in South America, bordering Colombia in the west, Brazil in the south, Guyana in the east and the Caribbean Sea in the north, covering an area of 916400 square kilometers.

The Venezuelan flag is rectangular, and its face is connected from top to bottom by the parallel horizontal rectangle of yellow, blue and red. There are eight white five-pointed stars arranged in an arc in the center of the flag. Yellow represents rich resources, blue represents the sky and sea, and red represents the blood of soldiers who died in the War of Independence. Originally there were only seven pentagram stars, representing the seven provinces of the Venezuelan Federation in 1811. Later, a new star was added to represent the Venezuelan province of Guiana, which was freed from Spanish rule in 1817.

The topography of Venezuela can be divided into three regions, namely, the mountains in the northwest, the Orinoco plain in the central part and the Guiana plateau in the southeast. The northwest is mainly the Merida Mountains of the Andes, with the highest Bol í var peak in the country and Lake Maracaibo, the largest in Latin America. The western half of the central plain is the grassland and the eastern half is the delta swamp formed by the Orinoco Estuary. The southeast is 500,800m above sea level and has the largest drop of Angel Falls.

Except for the mountains, the country basically belongs to the savanna climate, with mild mountains and hot lowlands, with an annual average temperature of 26-28 ℃, and an average annual rainfall increasing from 500mm to 3000 mm from the northern coast to the south.

Coffee producing area

Venezuelan coffee mainly revolves around the western, central, western and north-central and eastern coffee producing areas, and the main varieties of coffee grown are Tibica, Bourbon, Mondonovo and Kaddura.

Western region: most of the coffee produced in this area is generally marked for export under the name of the state, such as T á chira, M é rida or Zulia, rather than the name of the region. There are also people who compare coffee from the region with coffee from Colombia. Altitude: 1000-1200 m; harvest time: September-March of the following year; varieties: iron pickup, bourbon, Mondonovo, Kaddura.

Midwest: this region, which includes the states of Porto Gesa and Lara, is one of the top coffee producing areas in Venezuela. In addition, Falcon and Araqui are also located in this producing area. The coffee produced here is of excellent quality and is considered to be of the same quality as that of Colombia. These high-quality coffee beans are often called Maracaibos, named after the port of export. Coffee is grown in areas between 1000 and 1200 meters above sea level, and the harvest period is from September to March of the following year. The main varieties of coffee are Tieka, Bourbon, Mondonovo and Kaddura.

Central and northern producing areas: a small amount of coffee in this producing area comes from the states and federal territories of Alagua, Caravovo, Miranda and Kohders in Venezuela. Planting at 1000-1200 meters above sea level, the harvest period is from September to March of the following year, the main varieties are iron pickup, Bourbon, Mondonovo, Kaddura.

Eastern producing area: this area is located in the states of Sucre, Monagas, Ansoatjee and Poliwar. A coffee variety called "Caripe" can also be found here. It is planted at an altitude of 1000-1200 meters, and the harvest period is from September to March of the following year. The planting varieties are Iron pickup, Bourbon, Mondonovo, Kaddura and Calipe.

Coffee variety

The coffee varieties planted are mainly Tibica, Bourbon, Mondonovo and Kaddura, as well as the local breeding variety CARIPE.

CARIPE: Gustavo Bonafinapala, a professor at Oriental University in Calipe, Venezuela, is one of the heads of Coffee No. 5 of the Venezuelan Ministry of Agriculture and breeding. During a regular visit to the coffee countryside, local farmers showed the person in charge that some of the iron pickup plants in the plantation were particularly productive. In 1958, the person in charge began selection programs and testing productivity on several farms. Then selected is Caripe, now an important regional variety in the northeastern Venezuelan state of Monaga.

This variety has a large overall tree shape and large coffee beans, which is suitable for planting in high altitude areas. although the yield is not high, but its quality and flavor are good, it is vulnerable to diseases such as coffee leaf rust and nematodes.