Cultivation and Processing
Steps in Cultivation
The 2008 revision of Growing Coffee in Hawaii is the most recent manual on coffee cultivation in Hawaii. Obviously, this manual is somewhat dated, particularly regarding insect control. Neither coffee leaf rust (CLR) nor coffee bean borer (CBB) were not present in Hawaii in 2008. Given the potential of the diseases to severe impact the coffee industry in Hawaii, their management and control is addressed separately later in the this section. Additional manuals/handbooks/guides for coffee cultivation are listed in the Related References on this website.
Other key references to cultivation include:
- Coffee : growing, processing, sustainable production : a guidebook for growers, processors, traders, and researchers
- This 1040 page book published by Wiley is a comprehensive handbook on coffee, revised in 2012. Its list price is $143 from Wiley but may be available from others.
- COFFEE CULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE KONA DISTRICT OF HAWAII
This 64 page pamphlet was published in 1935 and provides a detailed description of the cultivation practices used almost a century ago.
Published in 2020, this research paper clearly shows that buying “clean” grafted coffee improves yield.
Other than the perennial problems with prices, markets and competition, the most critical problems facing the coffee industry in Hawaii are the relatively recent arrival of CLR and CBB., in 2020 and 2010, respectively.
“Coffee leaf rust (CLR) caused by the fungus Hemileia vastatrix is the most destructive and economically important disease of coffee (Coffea sp.) in the world. Infections result in loss of leaves and in severe cases may cause twig dieback and tree death. Long term impacts of the disease often result in a major decrease in yield.”
Source – Ocenar and Kawabata 2021
“Coffee Berry Borer (CBB) is a tiny beetle that infests coffee berries. CBB damages developing beans, causing losses in marketable farm yield and product quality.”
Source – CTAHR Cooperative Extension Service
Both CLR and CBB can be, in large part, controlled using an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach (see poster on next page)
There is an extensive literature and websites, etc. related to CLR and CBB. Some key links are:
- CTAHR Alert >> Coffee Berry Borer (CBB)
Contains many links to articles, etc. - Spraying to Suppress Coffee Leaf Rust (Hemileia vastatrix) in Hawaiʻi
A 2021 extension bulletin by the UH Cooperative Extension Service
A 2021 extension bulletin by the UH Cooperative Extension Service
A detailed extension bulletin by the UH Cooperative Extension Service
“This website is dedicated to providing outreach to farmers for the management of Coffee Leaf Rust, Coffee Berry Borer, and other coffee pests, diseases and problems in Hawaii.”
“The Best Beans app enables you to produce the highest quality and yield of coffee from your fields by efficiently and accurately monitoring Coffee Leaf Rust and Coffee Berry Borers and providing decision support on their management
While this 2019 manual focuses on Central America, it is still pertinent to Hawaii.
Management and Control of Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR) &
Coffee Bean Borer (CBB)
Processing
