Mulching in Coffee : A Review

Abstract

Mulching is the most important factor for coffee growing under sunlight expecially in low rainfall areas or/and poor soils. Mulching in coffee is widely practiced in the East and the Central African, the Central and the South American countries, but less common in other coffee producing regions including countries as Thailand. Most widely used materials for mulching are Napier grass, Guinea grass, Guatamala grass, banana trash, coffee pulp and coffee husk, maize stover, sorghum straw and other crop residues. These materials must be dried up under sunlight before mulching. Method of mulching should at planting and mulched every alternate other year for mature coffee. The thickness of mulching materials is ranging 4-9 inches. Time of mulching may be before on set of the rainy season or before the end of the rainy season, which depend upon amount of rainfall in each areas and methods of mulching used. The advantages of mulching are minimizing soil erosion, reducing soil temperature, protecting the soil surface from impact of falling rain, keeping soil moisture, adding mineral nutrients and organic matter to the soil, reducing weed growthh and increasing coffee production. The disadvantages of mulching are fire risk in dry season, increasing cost of production and effect of mulch on pest.
Applying artificial nitrogen fertilizers to coffee in the presence of a mulch is necessary, otherwise coffee plant will show nitrogen deficiency symptom. Nitrogen fertilizers can not be applided through mulch cover but must be applied directly to top soil under mulched materials.