Colombia Soil Conditions

Soils from the Savanna of Bogota and the Mountain areas were found to be low in available P as shown by crop response in the field. Yield increases of about 40% were obtained with both potatoes and wheat by application of P fertilizer. There was little crop response to added N fertilizer, except in the Mountain area. With the exception of one soil, K was found to be present in ample quantities for the crops tested in all of the areas. There was a poor correlation between the field response to applied N and P, and the greenhouse and laboratory results under these widely different soil conditions.

Mean values for soil pH were inversely related to the elevation of the areas. Values for pH ranged from 6.6 for the sample from the Sinu Valley (elevation 66 feet) to 5.2 for the Mountain area (elevation 7,000 to 10,000 feet). Mean organic matter content of the soil was positively related to the elevation. Mean values for organic C were 2.07 and 9.44% for the Sinu Valley and Mountain areas, respectively.

Topography of Colomia

Colomia is mostly mountains, rivers, and jungles (some explored and inhabited, others not).

An Environmental Look at Coffee: part 2, Shade-grown Coffee Farms

Traditionally coffee plants were grown under the shade of trees, which provided natural habitat for many animals and insects. The trees provided a moderate climate for the plants, and leaves that dropped from the shade trees enriched the soil. Farmers also used compost coffee pulp before chemical fertilizers were available.There is typically 70 to 100 percent shade cover. Traditional polyculture includes a mixture of the native trees and planted trees with 60 to 90 percent shade cover. Commercial polyculture, with 30 to 60 percent shade covering, has even more trees removed to increase the number of coffee plants. Finally, shaded monoculture includes dense plantings of coffee beneath merely 10 to 30 percent of shade covering. While rustic farms are the most natural, each of these shade farms is more environmentally friendly than the typical sun farm, which provides nearly no shade covering at all. Additionally, shade farms help to harbor diversity, prevent soil erosion, isolate carbon, and even save forests

An Envirenmental Look at Coffee: part 1

It seems as though consuming a morning cup of coffee has always been a part of the routine of the average Canadian/ American. However, up until recently, citizens have not put a great deal of thought into where it is that their prized beverage has come from. Recently, coffee companies large and small have begun to take into account the United States'/ Canada's love of specialized coffee, as well as its need to help the environment. Companies like Eco Organic Coffee and Starbucks have begun to value the healthy growth of the coffee beans that they purchase. They look at whether or not they were, in fact, raised in an environmentally-friendly manner, such as through shade farms rather than sun farms. This socially responsible coffee can be found in forty countries, with leading locations like Peru, Ethiopia, and Mexico. In order to fully understand the goal of the coffee companies' production of socially responsible coffee, it is first necessary to look at the positive and negative effects of differing types of coffee growth, as well as ways to continue the growth of environmentally friendly coffee beans.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Some Random Info On Coffee Agriculture

Coffee plants belong to the botanical genus coffea Rubiaceae family, which has 500 genera and over 6,000 species. There are between 25 and 100 species of coffea. The most common is either the C. arabica or C. canephora species, wich is usually refered to as arabica and robusta (left).

Topographic Map of Colombia

I have decided to focus my coffee research in Colombia. Here is a topographic map of Colombia.

Enjoy! :-)

Climate Map of Colombia