Woodpeckes are found in a variety of colours and patterns. Woodpeckers in coffee plantations have black and white spots and shades of yellow and red feathers which aid in camouflage. Woodpecker, any of about 200 species of birds that constitute the subfamily Picinae (true woodpeckers) of the family Picidae (order Piciformes), noted for probing for […]
What’s the Function of Manganese in Coffee Agroforestry?
Manganese (Mn) is one of the 17 elements essential for plant growth and reproduction. It is needed in only small quantities by plants, but like other micronutrients, Mn is ultimately as critical to plant growth as are the major nutrients. Manganese is a micronutrient and is needed in only small quantities by crop plants. However, […]
Interactions of Zinc with Other Nutrients
Zinc is now an integral part of fertilizer recommendations in coffee Agroforestry. It is generally applied along with NPK. The majority of the coffee Planters apply zinc through foliar application. However, Soil application has the advantage of leaving residual effects and thus, permitting a better utilization of applied Zn in a multi-cropping system. Soil chemists […]
Bioremediation. How it Can Help Coffee Planters
Indian coffee plantations grow some of the world’s finest quality Arabica and Robusta Coffee. In recent years a vast majority of coffee gardens are subjected to various stress due to the impact of climate change, global warming, and indiscriminate use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Unfortunately, heavy metals like copper, zinc, molybdenum, cobalt, and […]
Role of Sulphur in Coffee Plantations
Traditional Coffee Plantations in India are associated with some of the most fertile soils, rich in organic matter. Over the years, coffee cultivation spread out to non-traditional areas like lowland rice fields, plains and hills, which are low in organic matter. It’s a fact that soils rich in organic matter are also rich in sulphur. […]
Role of Microbes in Denitrification
More than 95 % of the coffee farmers in India have little understanding of the complex and volatile chemistry that occurs in straight and complex fertilizers. Once the chemical fertilizers are applied to the field they have to operate in an unpredictable harsh environment and send energy forward and backward a hundred times before a […]