About the coffee growing belt

Most of the coffee producing areas in the world are located in the tropics between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Cancer, which we call the "coffee belt" or Coffee Belt or Coffee Zone in English. As a tropical cash crop, coffee trees grow in coffee belts with excellent climatic conditions, where the sun shines all the year round, is rich in calories and Rain Water, and the annual average temperature is above 20 ℃. However, high temperature, humidity, and strong light can not be tolerated by any variety of coffee trees. For example, some Arabica coffee trees are not resistant to high temperature and humidity, and they are often planted at higher elevations: if the light is too strong, shading is also needed, hence the name "rainforest coffee" and "shaded coffee".

Apart from the climate, topography is the second most important factor we need to examine. Coffee trees should not grow on the cold current passageway, open to the south, winter frost-free and calm slopes are undoubtedly the first choice for planting, but the back shade sometimes becomes a good choice because of the slower growth period. Although I have seen many slopes of more than 30 degrees in coffee growing areas around the world, the slope is too steep for planting, harvesting and soil conservation. When planting coffee trees in Yunnan, China, the slope is emphasized to be less than 25 degrees.

Soil conditions are also crucial. Coffee trees belong to shallow root plants. The soil is rich in organic matter (and strong fertility), rich in water vapor (and smooth drainage), deep soil layer (usually more than 1 m), and weakly acidic (the soil pH value of coffee planting in Yunnan, China is generally between 5.5 and 6.5). Conditions are suitable for the growth of coffee trees. Guatemala, Brazil and Colombia, as well as Hawaii, the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, Java of Indonesia and Yunnan of China can become excellent coffee producing areas, all related to the possession of this kind of volcanic or forest soil. In order to protect the ecological environment as much as possible, it is usually not suitable to plant coffee trees on hilltops and ridges.

When looking for places suitable for coffee trees, experienced coffee gardeners often look at the growth status of local tropical cash crops such as mangoes, bananas and olives, as well as "indicator plants" such as mulberry and acacia trees. In addition, with the concepts of "health, environmental protection and organic" gradually taking root in the hearts of the people, we need to detect the concentration of pollutants in the soil.