COFFEE CULTIVATION GUIDE - Coffee Board of India

Use of cow dung smeared or mud drying yards should be avoided. Drying coffee in
such yards causes mould formation in cherry coffee and quality of such coffees is
very inferior. Coffee should be stirred and ridged at least once every hour to facilitate
uniform drying. In the evening time cherry coffee should be heaped and covered with
polythene or tarpaulin sheets to avoid contact with the mist. The coffee will be fully
dry in about 10 -12 days under the bright weather conditions. Cherry coffee should be
dried to a moisture level of 12 to 12.5%. The cherry is dry when handful of the drying
cherry produces rattling sound when shaken and a sample forlit records the same
weight on two consecutive days. At the end of the harvest, the remaining fruits on the
plants should be completely stripped and fallen fruits should be gleaned cleanly. If
this method of complete stripping and gleaning is not followed, there is a danger of
Coffee Berry borer infestation during the coming years. Stripped and gleaned coffee
should be dried separately and should not be mixed with other coffee.
4. Coffee effluent management
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Drying Robusta Cherry
Discharging untreated coffee effluent to natural water streams or to open lands
is environmentally unsafe as it causes water and land pollution. Use of untreated
coffee effluent for irrigation is also prohibited by the law. Since, coffee processing
coincides with the dry season when amount of water present in the natural streams is
at the minimum, causing further concern of higher degree of pollution.
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