Well, i put myself to the task of taking us through the process behind the production that steaming coffee with an alluring aroma. And this here is the first in a series of posts about the process.
It all starts from the seed. There is no difference between a coffee seed for planting and the un-roasted green coffee beans as many know them. We shall come to the process of obtaining these beans when we come to the post harvest processing methods.
It is these green coffee beans that are introduced into the nursery bed. The nursery bed contains black soil known for its nourishing ability and is usually mixed with sand to improve perforation. However, some farmers prefer to first soak these seeds overnight so that sprouting or germination time is reduced by almost one third.
In Uganda, these seeds are certified by the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and can only be obtained from them. This ensures quality of the coffee is maintained. The sprouted seed appears as below.
The seed is left in the nursery bed until the first two leaves appear and it is strong enough. After this, the seedlings are then transplanted into polythene sleeves filled with soil mixed with red sand in the proportions 2:1. This is done first by pricking a small hole in the center of the soil filled sleeve and then gently uprooting the seedling from the nursery bed and placing its roots into the small hole. the soil is gently firmed around the roots.
The transplanted seedlings are then usually arranged in neat rows to ease watering which has to be done everyday. The seedlings are usually grown in a structure with glazing that allows only minimum light penetration at about 40%. These seedlings are then left to grow for up to six months until such a time that they are hardened enough to be transferred to the field.
