Coffee Plantations in India are predominantly shade-grown under the canopy of a heterogamous tree population. The multi-storied crops, along with herbs, spices, and shrubs, growing beneath the canopy serve as the ideal food, for a wide variety of wildlife species. Over the years, diversification into chemical-intensive crops has burdened the soil, resulting in a host […]
Barking Deer: An Elusive Mammal inside shade coffee
Indian shade-grown eco-friendly coffee plantations are home to a large number of wildlife species. This is due to the fact that the area under coffee cultivation is positioned in the biodiversity hot spot of the Western Ghats, at the convergence of wildlife sanctuaries and the Nilgiri biosphere region. These plantations provide a variety of habitats […]
Coffee Forests As Buffer Zones In Wildlife Conservation
In recent times, the human-animal conflict has spilled over into shade coffee with elephants, deer, Gaur, and other species of wildlife freely roaming inside shade coffee. At times, some of this wildlife, have selected coffee plantations as their permanent sanctuary. We have selected the sloth bear for this article because it is listed as Vulnerable […]
Role of Magnesium in Plants
We often apply Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potash as major nutrients in enhancing the yield of coffee and multiple crops associated with coffee. Many Coffee Planters, also use micronutrient combinations, either separately or in combination with straight fertilizers. Most Planters are aware that both major and minor nutrients are required for increased yields in coffee. However, […]
Shade Coffee And Ecological Integrity
Shade-grown coffee brings about the maintenance of environmental stability through preservation, and when necessary, restoration of the ecological balance, through Agroforestry symbiosis. Each biological component inside the coffee forest supports the pyramid of life, at various trophic levels. This article is so very different from our earlier articles. It intends to stimulate the imagination of […]
Coffee Ecosystem and Significance of Wetlands
This article focuses on wetlands, recognized globally as the world’s most economically valuable ecosystems and essential regulators, to mitigate global warming. They are diverse in terms of habitat, biota, distribution, functions and uses. Wetlands are critical to our natural environment as they provide habitat to birds and animals; mitigate the impact of floods; and improve […]