Coffee Tree

    The coffee tree is a shrub with a straight trunk that can survive for as long as 70 years. Production of coffee is profitable from the 5th year onwards. Coffee has been classified as a member of the Rubiaceous family. From about 60 different species of coffee trees, only 2 dominate the world trade:

• Coffea arabica (or more simply, Arabica)
• Coffea canephora  

    Below are some details about the most well-known species of coffee trees:

          1) Coffeea arabica takes about seven years to mature fully. The altitude at which it's usually cultivated is about 1300 - 1500 m, but plantations exist as low as sea level and as high as 2800 m. The plant can tolerate low temperatures but not frost. This type of tree prefers to be grow in light shade. 2 to 4 years after planting, Coffea arabica produces small, white and highly fragrant flowers. The flowers last for only a few days, leaving behind only the thick, dark, green leaves. The berries then begin to appear. Inferior coffee results from picking them too early or too late, so many are picked by hand to be able to better select them, as they do not all ripen at the same time. The trees are difficult to cultivate and each tree can produce anywhere from 0.5–5 kg of dried beans, depending on the tree's individual character and the climate that season.

          2) Coffea canephora (Robusta) is a species of coffee which has its origins in central and western subsaharan Africa. The plant has a shallow root system and grows as a robust tree or shrub to about 10 metres. It flowers irregularly, taking about 10 – 11 months for cherries to ripen, producing oval shaped beans. As it is less susceptible to pests and disease, Robusta needs much less herbicides or pesticides than Arabica. That is possibly due to the higher caffeine content.

          3) Coffea Liberica is a species of coffee that originated in Liberia, West Africa. The coffee tree grows up to 9 metres in height, producing cherries that are larger than the cherries found on Arabica trees.The town of Lipa (now Lipa City) became the best producer of Liberica in the 1880s but soon collapsed when the Coffee rust disease came out, almost killing all coffee plants which has threatened the varietal with extinction. Today the provinces of Batangas and Cavite are the producers of Liberica in the Philippines.

    Coffee grows on varied soils - volcanic, siliceous clay, alluvial and peat and sand. Like the vine, soil gives a particular character to the same botanical species and different "Vintages" arise. Soil must be deep (roots are 1 to 2 meters) and acid (pH 4.5 to 6).