Income of coffee farmers grown in shade coffee tree Arabica coffee beans

First of all, there are certain reasons why "shading planting" has become an advantage. When coffee is planted in the shade of other vegetation, biodiversity provides favorable conditions for its growth. Native plants that provide shade for coffee range from forest plants such as cedar to fruit trees such as banana, orange juice, lemon, avocado and litchi, which work together to create a nutrient-balanced soil environment and provide a beneficial and stable specific microclimate (Microclimate) for coffee growth. Similarly, animals such as insects and birds also benefit from the diversity brought by many plants, so that more animals live here, which in turn is beneficial to the pollination of plants in the environment. Finally, those carefully considered planting methods are also beneficial to the health of the soil, thus reducing soil erosion in the planting area.

But what about coffee that doesn't grow in shade? Many of the world's top coffees, grown at high altitudes, are produced in a less "appropriate" way, and there are no other trees to shade them. As a result, we can see that in the world coffee industry, those coffees that get high marks in the standard evaluation mechanism and are regarded as role models may come from areas with ecological diversity and shade planting conditions. it may also come from high-altitude mountain areas that have been exposed to "all-day sun" for a long time.

Despite the different opinions on the effect of shade on coffee taste, at least the current view is that shade planting is undoubtedly a favorable factor for the environment, but this is only one of the many conditions that affect the growth of coffee trees. and thus affect the flavor of coffee.

"Health and quality go hand in hand," said Byron Holcomb, a coffee farmer from Brazil who deliberately grows coffee in full sun. "healthy coffee is more likely to get good quality. From a botanical point of view, coffee is a kind of lower shrub vegetation, it is born to grow under taller trees, and such trees are the so-called shade vegetation for coffee. "

However, it is hard to say that the conditions that provide a healthy environment for coffee growth and benefit the soil have a big impact on the cup of coffee you end up drinking. A study by Shawn Steiman of the University of Hawaii at Manoa focused on the effects of agricultural and forestry conditions on the yield and quality of coffee. He believes that although the amount of sunlight a coffee tree gets has an effect on its flavor, it cannot predict the flavor of coffee at all.

"the taste of coffee is affected by many factors," Steiman said. "if you generalize them with the concept of 'soil conditions', it refers to an interaction between the ecological environment, precipitation conditions and temperature-obviously, plant growth is closely related to them. Therefore, the influence of sunlight only plays a part in the 'local conditions', but it must not be the only factor to be considered. " He added.

Holcomb points out that there are some coffee that are widely respected around the world that do not grow in shade. Kenyan coffee is a good example. "Shade promotes the growth of coffee because it gives coffee a natural environment that is closer to its nature, so I think it promotes some of the characteristics of coffee from a genetic point of view, which in turn makes it taste good in the coffee cup," Holcomb said. "but having said that, the theory of causality is called into question. All other things being equal, shading may not have much effect on coffee quality, and we know that magical Kenyan coffee is grown in a high-altitude environment without shade. "