PRODUCTION OF PERENNIAL CROPS notes for olevel

PRODUCTION OF PERENNIAL CROPS

Perennial crops are crops whose life span is more than one year. Examples of perennial crops grown in Uganda are coffee, sugarcane, tea, cocoa and sisal.

Coffee Production

coffee belong to the family Rubiaceace. The two commonly grown species of coffee are arabica (Coffea arabica) and robusta (Coffea canephora) coffee. Arabica coffee is believed to have orignated from Arabia. It is a highland crop and thus grows best under cool temperatures (10-15^oc). It is a slow growing crop and start bearing fruits 3-4 years after planting. It produces good quality coffee than robusta coffee. Robusta coffee is believed to have orignated from East Africa. It grows best in lowland areas with warm weather conditions (15-20^oc). It grows vigorously and starts producing fruits 2.5- 3 years after planting.

Importance of coffee

1. coffee is a non -alcholic beverage crop. It cntains a stimulant called caffeine.

2. coffe husks are used as litter in deepliter system of poultry keeping.

3. it is used to manufature explosives.

Growth requirements of coffee.

1. Rainfall.

Coffee requires evenly distributed rainfall throughout the year within the range of 1500- 2250 mm. A dry speel of 2-3 months is needed to stimulate flowering.

2. Temperature and altitude.

In Uganda, arabica coffee grows best at higher altitudes (1300- 2300 m) where temperatures are cool. Robusta coffee grows best at lower altitudes (1200- 1500 m) where temperatures are warmer.

3. Soils.

The soils should be deep enough for proper root penetration, fertile and well drained. Volcanic soils are the best. Soll pH should be between 4.2 and 6.2.

Propagation Of Coffee

Arabica and robusta coffee can be propagated by seed or by vegetative propagation.

Propagation by seed.

Seed selection.

Seed for planting should be selected from trees that are healthy and high yielding. They should be picked when ripe, pulped and graded according to size and weight.

The beans should be dreied under shade.

Nursery bed site and preparation.

• Choose a suitable site with good deep fertile soil which is well drained and away from shade.
• The soil should be ploughed to adepth of 60 cm and all stones, plant roots and weeds removed.
• Single super phosphate (SSP) fertilisers should be incorporated into the soil at the rate of 50 gm/m².
• Sow seeds in rows at a spacing of 22cm for robusta and 15 cm for arabica and then cover them with a thin layer of soil.
• Construct a shade over the nursery bed and apply mulch over thhe soil surface to keep the moisture level high.
• Water regulary where necessary.
• Early weeding is required to avoid competition for water, nutrients and light.
• Control pests and diseases.
• Harden off the seedlings before transplanting.

Seed bed preparation

• Prepare the land at least 6 months before transplanting .
• Eradicate perennial weeds such as couch grass using herbicides such as roundup.
• Uproot tree stumps and roots , as they can act as sources of infection of young coffee by fungi such as Armillaria.
• Dig planting holes 60 cm wide and 60 cm deep 3 months before transplanting.
• Fill the planting holes with a mixture of top soil, double phosphate fertiliser or manure at least 2 to 3 weeks before planting.
• Transplant the coffee seedlings at the beginning of long rains when the plants are 25- 35 cm
• When lifting the seedlings from the nursery, care should be taken not to damage their roots.
• The seedlings should be planted at the same deth as was in the nursery.
• Tap roots should be trimmed off and some leaves removed.
• Spacing depends on coffee species, the system of pruning, whether it is intercroped with bananas or not. For the case of robusta coffee where multiple pruning system is used, a spacing of 3m x 3m is reccomended and for arabica the spacing is 2.4m x2.4 m.
• Provide mulch and temporary shade to the seedlings after transplanting.
• Regular weeding is necessary to remove all types of weeds. The most effective method of weed control is use of herbicides such as round up.

Prunning coffee.

Prunning is the removal of excess , diseased or injured branches of the crop. The main aim of prunning coffee is to modify the growth habit of the trees so as to improve their productivity and also facilitate harvesting.

Advantage of prunning coffee

• Prunning makes coffee trees aquire the desired shape and height for efficient coverage when spraying and easy picking.
• It improves air circulation within the plants, thus avoiding the cool moist conditions that favour pests such as Antesia bugs and diseases like coffee berry disease.
• It controls the cropping level by preventing overbearing in some years, which would lead to die back.
• Reduces the amount of chemical used when spraying since there are fewer branches.

Pests of coffee

1. Antesia bugs.

These are sucking insects. They are dark brown with white speckles. They damage the flower buds , berries and the growing points. Their control is pruning and spraying with parathion and fenthion.

2. Coffee berry borer.

The pest attack mainly lrobusts coffee and arabica coffee grown at low altitudes. The adult female bores through the tip of the berry and into the bean where it feeds and lays eggs. Attacked beans turn bluish green, which lower their quality.

Control of Coffee berry borer.

• Pick the berries as soon as they are ripe.
• Regular prunning to remove shady conditions that do not favour the predators of this pest.
• Spray with Endosulfan and Dieldrin.

3. Mealy bugs

Attacks flower buds, berry clusters and shoot tips and forms a white mass around them. Heavily infested trees become blackened by sooty moulds which grow on the honey dew that is excreted by mealy bugs.

Control of mealy bugs

• Paint the base of stems with Dieldrin, Diazinon or Dursban to prevent the attendant ants from attending to them.

4. Leaf miners

these are small white moths whose larvae feed on the palisade tissue causing premature leaf fall. Tunnels made by the larvae can be observed on the leaf surface as brown blotches.

Control of leaf miners

• spray with parathion, fenthion or Fenitrothion.

Diseases of coffee

1. Coffee leaf rust

This is caused by fungus called Hemileia vastatrix. It attacks arabica coffee grown at low and mid- altitudes. The disease is spread by rain splash.

Symptoms

• Tiny pale yellow spots on the under surface of leaves which increase in size forming larger patches of irregular shape, covered with a yellow orange powder.
• Affected leaves fall off prematurely

Control of coffee leaf rust.

• Regular pruning and weeding to improve air circulation within the coffee plants
• Tmely application of fungicide such as Dithane M45

2. Coffee berry disease (CBD)

It is caused by a fungus called Collectotrichum coffeanum. It is a major disease of arabica coffee in East Africa. It severe at high altitudes where the weather is wet and humid. It is spread by rain splash. It attacks coffee flowers and fruits at all stages of growth.

Symptoms

• Affected flowers have dark brown streaks shrivels and die shortly.
• Affected green berries develop small dark sunken patches which spread rapidly to give blackened berries.
• Ripe fruits show brown or dark sunken patches and the entire berry is blackened without affecting the beans inside.

Control of Coffee berry disease (CBD)

• Tmely application of fungicide such as Kocide 101 and Copper oxychloride.
• Pruning and weeding

3. Coffee Wilt Disease

It is caused by a fungus called Fusarium xylaroides.

Symptoms.

• Leaves curl inwards and they may turn yellow.
• The leaves may also wilt and feel dry to touch. This followed by sudden leaf fall within a few days of first symptoms.
• When the barck of the affected stem is peeled off, black or brown violet sreaks are observed.

Control of Coffee Wilt Disease

• uproot and burn infected plants on spot.
• Restrict movement of infected plant parts eg stems.
• Do not harvest berries from diseased plants

Harvesting of coffee

Coffee picking is done manually using hands. Only berries that have turned red should be picked.

Picking should be done every 10-14 days during picking season, or even once a week to prevent over-ripenning.

Coffee processing

There are two methods used to process coffee. These are dry method and wet method.

1. Dry method.

Harvested cherry is sun dried on cement or wire trays raised off the ground. The dry cherry is taken to the milling factory (Hullery) where the outer skin and parchment are removed in one operation.

2. Wet method

• Cherry is pulped within 36 hours after harvesting. In this process, the flesshy outer skin (pulp) of the cherry is removed leaving the two beans covered in a tough husk called the parchment. The parchment is covered in a jelly like substance called mucillage which is insoluble in water.
• After pulping, the beans are put in containers and exposed to running water while stirring so as to remove those that are floating.
• The beans are placed in wooden boxes for 12- 48 hours and left to ferment so that mucillage breaks down.
• Fermented coffee beans are washed to remove the substances formed during fermentation any foreign matterial.
• The coffee beans are then sun dried on wire trays up to a moisture content of 11%