Systematic agronomic farm management for improved coffee quality

There is growing interest of international markets in differentiated agricultural products from the tropics. Coffee is a tropical crop of relatively high quality, whose value is increasing as consumer demand in developed countries for specialty coffee. Smallholders in emerging markets can benefit by capitalizing on the natural resource variability in their production system and from the knowledge that they have about this variability. The objective of this paper is to illustrate the benefits of systematically targeting management practices by coffee growers to improve attributes of their product. Data from case studies in Colombia and Mexico show statistically significant differences in beverage quality of coffees grown under different production conditions such as slope aspect, varieties, times of harvest, and shade levels. Possible intervention options can be selected by growers in terms of their ease of implementation, the likely improvement of quality that they achieve and the resource intensiveness they require. The conclusion is that optimum management is site specific so that it is not possible to make any blanket recommendations. Using continuous management cycles of implementation, observation, interpretation and evaluation the site specificity provides growers an opportunity to improve management over time to produce a higher quality product.

Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slideResearch highlights▶ Coffee-growing systems are complex and this paper shows that they are site-specific. Because of this, there is no option but to provide growers with the tools that will allow them to tailor management to their own particular site. ▶ Evaluating research results from on-farm experiments therefore requires a different framework than those from conventional reductionist experimentation, and includes the criteria of credibility, salience and legitimacy. ▶ Possible interventions vary in terms of their ease of implementation, the likely improvement of quality that they cause and the resource intensiveness they require. However, together they provide distinct potential for added value of the product. Optimum management appears to be highly site specific so that it is not possible to make blanket recommendations. ▶ By recognizing that quality is highly site specific, by means of continuous cycles of implementation, observation, interpretation and evaluation, each farmer can improve his management over time. By this means the farmer is able to target the product to the dynamic requirements of a dynamic market. But to make this happen, it is necessary to interlink supply chain actors more closely, to facilitate data analysis and interpretation for farmers, and to develop appropriate feedback mechanisms. ▶ Systematic targeting of agronomic farm management practices is a promising opportunity for farmers to improve their livelihoods by producing coffees with added value through chain-inclusive on farm experimentation.