COFFEE

Growing Seedlings in Nursery Beds

In coffee, generally the propagation is done through seeds and of late in Robusta, the clonal propagation was also established to be successful. To a limited extent, grafted plants are also being planted.

From the selected and certified seed blocks, healthy and fully matured fruits of normal appearance with three quarters of ripening are harvested selectively from the marked plants during November-December in the case of Arabica and in January-February in Robusta. Discarding the floats, the sound fruits are pulped and sieved to remove the defective beans. The beans are then mixed with wood ash @ 0.75 kg per kg of seeds and dried under shade stirring from time to time to facilitate uniform drying. To protect the seeds against any microbial infection, the seeds are treated with either carbendazim @ 1 g or with vitavax @ 0.66 g per kg of seed coffee.

Germination bed (primary):Seeds are sown in raised seed beds (15 cm above the ground level) provided with proper drainage prepared out of soil, compost and sand at 6:2:1 proportion. A bed of 4 x 3 m will be sufficient for 1.5 kg of seeds, if sown 1.0 to 1.5 cm apart in rows, with the flat side of the seed towards the soil. A thin layer of soil is spread after sowing and covered with dry straw to a thickness of about 5 cm to ensure uniform temperature and to regulate moisture retention. Sowing is to be taken up in December-January for Arabica and in February-March for Robusta. Watering of the seed beds is to be done twice a day in the initial week and thereafter regulated. The seeds sprout in about 40 days when the straw mulch is removed. The primary beds are provided with pandal covered with coir mats or dry leaves.

Last updated: 23-05-2008