NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT IN COFFEE PRODUCTION
By Eriki Andrew
Coffee is one of the most nutrient-demanding perennial crops. Coffee trees occupy the same soil for decades – continuously drawing on its fertility to sustain vegetative growth, flowering, and fruit production at the same time. Coffee trees need 13 soil-derived mineral nutrients to function normally. These are divided into macronutrients – required in larger quantities – and micronutrients, which are needed in trace amounts but are equally critical with nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) being the two most heavily consumed macronutrients across the entire production cycle.
Nutrient management is therefore a very critical factor in coffee production. Nutrient management basically involves ensuring that your coffee trees have the right nutrients, in the right amounts at the right time. Poor nutrient management not only causes yield declines, and inconsistencies but also affects general soil conditions, causing the soil to deteriorate and lose fertility overtime.
Nutrient management in coffee production therefore requires a systematic replenishment plan. Use of inorganic fertilizers can play an important role in replenishing soil nutrients, however in order to ensure that your soils overall health is good it is very important to incorporate organic fertilizers in your nutrient management plan.
Organic fertilizers improve soil structure, enhance water retention, stimulate beneficial microbial activity, and deliver slow-release nutrients that complement mineral fertilizers. There are many organic fertilizers and at Heritage Kanaani Farms we are continuously exploring the different organic fertilizers sources to see which can best suit our production system. Bio-slurry is the nutrient-rich organic waste byproduct from an anaerobic biogas digester. Bio-slurry, as an organic fertilizer contains essential nutrients for coffee production like nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients that coffee trees need, slowly releasing them to the coffee trees over time, but also improves soil structure and the soil’s ability to hold water.
Fresh liquid bio-slurry can be diluted with water and applied directly around the base of the coffee bushes or in composted form where it is dried or the slurry can be mixed with crop residues like coffee husks and mulch before spreading it around the plants. Bio-slurry can also be used as a foliar fertilizer. Timing is always very key; it is important to apply during the rainy season or moist periods to prevent nutrient burn and ease absorption.
Bio-slurry is a powerful fast-acting organic fertilizer and soil conditioner because its nutrients are more readily available to the coffee tree in comparison to some other organic fertilizers. It improves crop yields, replaces costly chemical inputs, and enhances overall soil health while recycling farm waste safely.
Bio-slurry can therefore be considered as one of the benefits or products once a farmer chooses to create a coffee-cattle ecosystem.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Senior Coffee Agronomist / General Manager, Heritage Kanaani Farms.
eriqueandrea@gmail.com
0777-400998/0700-762165