How Do We Prepare Pastureland for Shade Coffee

While doing research for this quarter’s how to article, I found that the issue of shade vs sun is well documented, there are many articles discussing this issue. So, many of us are aware of the negative impact that sun coffee has on the environment but since that it does produce higher yields many farmers are nevertheless converting to sun and cutting down the native forest that have sheltered the coffee plantation for many generations. The issue of which shade is best is still a concern, especially for most consumers who have no idea that there is a difference in the shade gradient protecting the coffee plants and all the nature that surrounds it. We’ll first explain the shade gradient at Selva Negra, and then we’ll proceed to explaining how for 13 years we’ve been working on converting a nutrient deficient, compacted pastureland into lush forest where to plant coffee.

What is a shade gradient / shade spectrum?

There are been 4 documented levels of shade for coffee plantations:

  • Rustic: coffee shrubs are planted in the existing forest with little alteration of native vegetation.
  • Traditional polyculture: more managed than rustic coffee, involving deliberate integration of beneficial plants, without removing original trees.
  • Commercial polyculture: some shade is removed to make room for more coffee shrubs; yields are higher, and some agrochemical inputs are usually needed.
  • Reduced or specialized shade: uses a single, pruned canopy species to provide shade.

Selva Negra's shade falls between the rustic and the traditional polyculture. All trees within the plantation are indigenous to the region and many of these are centennial trees that have grown to such heights that provide a gradient of shade from very high to the lower and more manageable shade of the younger trees. We also integrate within the plantation certain fruit trees. These are not numerous since they are not used for the sale of the crop, but for the benefit of the workers during the harvest season, providing a snack in the middle of the workday.

Converting From Sun to Shade

We would like to take this opportunity to describe how we’ve been working for almost 15 years in converting a pastureland into coffee plantation. This has been a long process due to the time required to reintroduce the nutrients into the soil that allow the shade and coffee trees survive. We started our journey in 1995 looking to expand our coffee area. We selected the lower side of hill, about 40 acres, that was attached to an old coffee area.Our work began with building windbreakers, and since the land was extremely compacted and not much could grow in it, we began prepping the soil. We dug a big, but not deep hole in the ground for each shade tree to be planted; on average the hole is 24 inches long, wide and deep. In each hole we placed compost soil, prepared at the farm.(see Summer 2006 Newsletter) These holes were marked and for the next three years the process was repeated. Finally, on the fourth year, we planted some shade trees. The results were varied, at the bottom of the hill most of them did good, at the middle section some managed and others did not, at the top, almost all them died.

The next year (year 5) we placed many more windbreakers to protect our work, the breakers consisted of "espadillo", a yucca stick. They worked great, but we could not place them on every tree, so we placed about 8 rows along the hill. For the next six years (year 6-11), we continued to plant shade trees. In the past two past years (12&13) we’ve planted a lot of banana and castor oil trees. The purpose of these trees is to provide quick and temporary shade. These will protect the shade trees as well as coffee trees that will be planted while they survive the first summer. Once the trees survive the first summer it is easier for them to survive and thrive.

After all this work one can easily see where this experiment took place, there is a noticeable difference in the color of the leaves.The bottom part of the hill where the soil was not as eroded or compacted, the leaves are of a lush green color, and at the upper part the trees are still struggling to survive evident by the yellowish leaves.

This year we will be planting more banana trees because they provide nutrients to the ground, but have yet to plant any coffee trees. We’re still in the process of creating the shade required to grow Selva Negra quality beans. Our plan in the coming years includes the making of dead barriers. These are created by digging a trench on the ground, a hole of about 4 inches deep, about 30 inched wide, and as long as possible is made. It is left open to fill mostly with leaf litter, so we cannot do it where no trees are growing, it will also get full with water in the winter. Not only will this add nutrients to the soil it will limit the erosion of the soil as the water will remain in this trench and will reduce the speed of the water rushing downhill. At end of the rainy season, the soil is in and around the trench remains humid for a longer period of time.

Another thing we’ve been doing to prepare the soil for the future coffee trees is creating a sort of bed for the coffee and shade trees. A flat surface is prepared where the tree will be planted, the water will fall on the flat surface and stay there, retaining most of the humidity thus helping the plant to survive.

As you can see there is a lot of work and thinking involved in making this possible. Still, after almost 15 years we cannot say that the hill is ready for the coffee trees. We know that we will succeed, but we still need some more years to claim victory.

Now, this is an adventure of one extreme to another, from totally barren nutrient deficient soil to the creation of a forest where to plant coffee. We have also converted areas of the farm that used to be corn or potato fields, these were much faster and easier to do. Although the process was the same, the shade trees had a much higher survival rate from the very beginning, and these areas have now been producing coffee for quite sometime.