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Companion planting: Three sisters & five sisters crops planting in Africa

 

Companion Planting: Three sisters and five sisters planting in Sub-Sahara Africa

Companion planting

Have you ever wondered why some crops produce more when planted together with certain plants? Just visualize a rural organic farmland with maize, beans and cocoyam (Ibo coco) planted together! The tons of harvest from this mixed farming will leave you puzzling. Yes, our ancestors farmed and harvested tons of food without any chemical input. And I wonder what happens now. The chemicals we keep applying in our farms have been polluting the soil, killing soil organisms, destroying our ecosystems and affecting our health. It is time we begin to understand the beneficial synergy between different plants so we can increase yield, control pests and diseases without applying external chemicals into our farmlands. Welcome to the world of companion planting.

Companion planting

Have you ever wondered why some crops produce more when planted together with certain plants? Just visualize rural organic farmland with maize, beans, and cocoyam (Ibo coco) planted together! The tons of harvest from this mixed farming will leave you puzzling. Yes, our ancestors farmed and harvested tons of food without any chemical input. And I wonder what happens now. The chemicals we keep applying in our farms have been polluting the soil, killing soil organisms, destroying our ecosystems and affecting our health. It is time we begin to understand the beneficial synergy between different plants so we can increase yield, control pests and diseases without applying external chemicals into our farmlands. Welcome to the world of companion planting.

So what really is companion planting?

Companion planting is the practice of growing different plants together so they can benefit from each other. Certain combinations of plants make each of them more productive. Why? Because some plants have a mutually beneficial relationship with complementary characteristics such as nutrient requirements, natural support, weed suppression, pest-repelling abilities amongst others.

A typical example of companion planting is the famous Three Sisters crop -where maize, beans and pumpkin or squash are planted together. This has been done in Sub-Sahara Africa for millennia. Today it is still the usual traditional practice within rural communities’ farmland in the tropics. These plants do complement each other and each of them does benefit from the union as they grow symbiotically to deter weeds and pests, enrich the soil fertility and support each other.

•         The tall corn provides support to the climbing beans, you can use any variety of corn – soft, pop, white, yellow, etc...
•        The fast-growing beans convert atmospheric nitrogen to soil nitrogen which fertilizes all the plants especially corn which requires a large quantity of nutrients. The beans also help to stabilize the maize during heavy wind.
•         The squash or pumpkin grows low and wide around the corn and beans. It shades the soil to prevent moisture loss. Its big leaves also suppress weeds and control pests and insects.  Bingo! 
•     What a wonderfully beneficial relationship. Please like comment and subscribe while we share information on how to plant the three sisters

How do we plant the three (3) sisters?

Note: In sub-Sahara Africa they are two planting seasons starting in March and September. So make sure you plant at the right time

• 1     Choose a sunny location with at least 6 hours of full sunlight every day
• 2     Clear the farm around January and allow the grass/shrub to dry and decompose for about 6-8 weeks before tillage.
• 3     Make sure you start tilling at the beginning of the planting season.
• 4     Fold the dried and decayed grass/shrubs in the middle of the furrow.
• 5    Prepare the soil with much organic matter, composted animal/farm manure and wood ash.
• 6     Hoe the soil on both sides of the furrow to cover up the decayed grass/shrub within the bed.
• 7     Make a bed about 0.5m wide, 20cm high and 4m long.  Inter-bed distance should be about 50cm.
• 8     Cut the pumpkin or squash open, remove the seeds and spread to dry under shade for 2 days. Get your maize seeds ready for planting.
• 9    Then plant your maize – 3 seeds per spot, 1m apart. Then plants 2 seeds of pumpkin between the maize.
• 10.  About 10 days later, you plant your beans, 2 seeds close to the corn.
• 11 Sit, relax and watch the 3 sisters do the magic. Nature has it all. 

 The three sisters provide both sustainable soil fertility as well as a healthy organic balanced diet. Experience has shown that the concept of 3 sisters crop can include even up to 4 or 5 crops. For the purpose of increasing food yield on a small piece of land, I will showcase how to plant up to 5 complimentary crops on raised beds in a planting season. For this, we shall be adding amaranth (Greens) and Cocoyam. This mixed planting increases biodiversity which attracts pollinators to enhance flowering, fruiting and food production.

Amaranth

·        The fourth sister (Amaranth – Greens) is included because it attracts pollinators, lures birds away from eating the maize and is also very nutritional. More pollinators imply more fruits and more yield.

Growing cocoyam

·        

    

Then the fifth sister which is cocoyam (ibo coco) is a staple food in sub-Sahara Africa and grows for about 5 months before harvesting tubers for food. So it will be the last crop to harvest before we prepare the soil again for the next planting season. It helps to control pests and suppresses weed.

 How to plant five (5) sister crops on raised beds in the tropics

• Make a bed about 1m wide, 30cm high (flat top and 4-6m long. Inter-bed distance should be at least 50cm.
• Cover your cocoyam on a dark wet area to sprout into seedlings
• Plant your cocoyam seedlings 20cm deep and 1m apart on both sides of the beds.
•  Plant your maize – 3 seeds between the planted cocoyam.
• Then plant 2 pumpkin seeds in a spot about 20cm close to the cocoyam
• Sparingly broadcast your amaranth seeds on the beds and level the bed by racking so some seeds are lightly covered.

• After 10 -14 days  you plant your beans 2 seeds just 10cm close to the maize 
• The seeds used for this type of sisters cropping should be organic seeds
• Direct the beans vines towards the nearest cornstalk as they grow. This allows it to climb upwards, rather than creep along the ground.
• Hoe as many beds as you can and weed regularly

1     Harvested in succession

1.     Amaranth can be harvested 7 weeks after planting. Use a sharp knife to cut the soft stem, leaving 2-3 nodes underneath for new shoots. You can harvest weekly for the next 2 months before it starts flowering.

2.     Pumpkin/squash soft stems and leaves can be harvested from the 8th week after planting. They spread out fast once the first meristematic tip is cut off. Harvesting too can continue for the next 3 months before fruiting. Don’t harvest too much if you are interested more in the pumpkin/squash fruits.

3.     The beans start flowering just 10 weeks after planting. Harvesting commences from the 14 weeks when the beans are matured for harvesting. This may continue for another 2 months.

4.     The maize is ready in about 16 weeks. After harvesting the maize, leave the stalk to dry up for another 2 weeks so you can continue harvesting the beans. After this, the production of the beans begins to reduce, then you cut the stalk to mulch the cocoyam and add some soil on the bed so the cocoyam can produce bigger tubers.

5.     At the end of 22 weeks, you start harvesting the cocoyam and pumpkin fruits. Get ready for another planting season starting in September.

Thinking time

Climate change has led to an increase in temperature which has resulted to drought that is negatively affecting crops production, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

Question: What could you easily add as the 6^th sister crop to remedy this situation?  Explain your reasons… 2min to think and write your ideas below in the comment.

Watch the video on companion planting of our three or five sister groups here

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Continuous selective harvesting of soft stem vegetables to increase yield, reduce cost and labour

 

Continuous selective harvesting of soft stem vegetables to increase yield, maximize land use, reduce input cost and labour

The world demand for leafy vegetables growing on stalk or soft stems is rapidly growing. Despite the growing population, labour shortage has become a limiting factor for agricultural production and there is need to increase the amount of harvested vegetables at low labour input. One way to do this may be to consider harvesting the vegetable many times before it flowers and bear seeds. However, most western farmers have hardly explore this option of traditional selective harvesting that is geared towards increasing yield. This has left me pondering for a long time as I keep questioning myself …

Why do farmers harvest stalk leafy vegetables by uprooting them?

Ever since I traveled to the West, I have been wondering why farmers keep harvesting leafy vegetables by totally uprooting them. Once uprooted, the lifespan of the plants is over. Then they will nurse new seedlings again, tilled the soil, peg and plant afresh. What a waste of labour, time, inputs and harvest?

Rooted Amaranth (Green)

I grew up in Africa where I learned and practiced traditional farming practices from my grand-mums, parents and the entire community. Yes, we had a routine of going to the farm to cultivate our own vegetables and food crops every Saturday. A practice I enjoyed doing even after leaving the University of Buea and traveling to the West in 2003. In short, I am a proud farmer by birth and I don’t remember a year without growing my own organic food in my home garden. My family have been practicing subsistence farming and it is not by accident that I am passionate about farming.

How to harvest soft stem leafy vegetables

Most leafy vegetable grow on stalks that when harvested can develop new shoots from the remaining nodes on the stalk. In this case we harvest leaving about 2-4 nodes for new shoots to further develop, grow and spread out. Use a sharp knife and cut the vegetable just above 3 nodes on the rooted stalk. Within 4 days, you will see new lateral buds developing at the node. This may take about 10-14 days to fully grow into a broad leave stem vegetable ready for harvest.

So if you have a raised bed full with leafy vegetables, it is certain that all will not grow at the same rate, height or size. Normally these type of vegetables are usually planted closely (about 15-20 cm apart) to each other because only the vegetative growth is harvested as food. To ensure continuous harvest, you will need to employ the concept of selective harvesting.

Cut amaranth (Green)

Traditional selective harvesting practices

Selective harvesting is required for leafy vegetables that grow less homogeneously or are multi-annual. Selective vegetable harvesting allows us to harvest fresh vegetables weekly for a long period of time. Soft stem leafy vegetable like huckleberry (country njamajama), amaranths (green), bitter leaves and water leaves falls within this category. At Suzy-Farms we practice selective harvesting that enable us to harvest vegetables for about 2 months (at least 8 times) before they get mature. Once they are matured, they develop flowers and seeds. This is a sure indication that harvesting will soon come to a halt. But until then, these vegetables should be harvested by cutting the soft stem with a sharp knife. 

Within the bed of closely planted leafy vegetable, first harvest only the big matured ones. All small shoots vegetables should not be harvested. Leave these small ones to take advantage of the space created after the first harvest to further develop, spread out and growth bigger. Within a week, they must have grown bigger, matured and ready for harvest. At the same time the node left on the stems after the first harvest should have also developed young growing shoots. So by the time you carry out the second selective harvesting, this young shoots will also get enough space now to develop. This cycle may continue for 3 months with continues weekly harvesting. Please watch this video to understand how it works… Seeing is believing and believing is practicing. Click on our
youtube channel to watch how it is done in our home garden.

Bounty harvest of cut Amaranth from flower beds (companion planting)

Please make sure you grow organic, eat organic and live a healthy lifestyle. We live just ones! Don’t mess your life with unhealthy food. Start your own backyard garden as soon as possible so we can keep sharing information and good experiences. Grow your own food whenever possible and avoid frozen vegetable as much as you can. You can enhance your soil health by increasing the soil organic matter and also by practicing companion planting with beneficial synergies. This will also help to reduce pest and diseases while enhancing production. Please, make sure you harvest, cook and eat same day if possible. They are lots of vitamins and minerals in vegetables to nourish the body. These nutrients begins to reduce gradually from 8 hours after harvesting. Let your labour not go in vein. Harvest just when you are ready to prepare and eat. Watch this video here!!! 

Our Slogan: From Farm to Table. Yes! Let’s do it.  Experience it and share your story with us. Bingo!!! Those without gardens could buy fresh vegetables from organic stores or from your usual shop. However, stay away from frozen vegetable.

We shall be uploading videos soon on our YouTube channel. Subscribe to our channel, like, comment and hit on the notification button to keep up with update. Like our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram and Twitter 

Soil nutrients for optimal plants growth and production

Soil nutrients for optimal plants growth and production

Healthy and fertile soil needs adequate supply of nutrients for optimum plants growth. The major nutrients in the soil for plant growth are Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (p) and Potassium (K) which make up the trio known as N-P-K. These nutrients are absorbed by the plants for root development (N & P), growth (N), flowering (P) and fruiting (K). Other important nutrients are Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg) and Sulphur (S). Plants also need trace elements like Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Boron (B) and Molybdenum (Mo). These nutrients should be constantly replace else production will decline with decreasing amount of soil nutrients. These nutrient must be balance. A deficiency of one nutrients cannot be compensated by the surplus of the other.

Essential soil nutrients for optimum plants growth

The concept of limiting factor states that plants growth is always controlled by the mineral nutrients in shortest supply, even when sufficient quantity of the other nutrients exist. Imagine a wooden bucket with staves of different length. If water is filled in the bucket, it can be filled only to the height of the shortest stave – the limiting factor. In nature, N is almost always limiting in plant growth.

Liebig's law of limiting factor

Major element (N-P-K)

Nitrogen (N): Nitrogen is found in plant cells, proteins, hormones and chlorophyll. It is a very essential element in plant growth. The main source of soil N is from the atmosphere. Legumes fix atmospheric nitrogen in their roots thereby helping to convert atmospheric N into soil nitrate that plants can easily absorb. Dark soils usually contain more N than light brown soil. Heavy rain usually leached out nitrate from the soil, so it should be added in small amount that plant can effectively use it – preferable in organic form like composted manure which release the nitrate slowly.

Phosphorus (P): Phosphorus stimulates early root development, photosynthesis and plant growth. It also transfer energy from sunlight to plants and hasten maturity of plants as it helps plant to produce flowering site and produce large buds. Manure contains P especially grain-fed animal manure like chicken manure.

Potassium (K): Potassium helps plant to resist diseases and increase flowering and fruit production. It enhance strong root growth, water intake and helps to form and move starch, sugar and oil in plants. It enhance plants vigour, disease resistant capacity and yield. Cassava and bananas are big potassium users.

Secondary nutrients (Ca-Mg-S)

Calcium (Ca): Calcium is vital for healthy roots and leaves development. It helps produce strong cells and root walls.

Magnesium (Mg): Magnesium is a key component of chlorophyll which makes leaves green. Chlorophyll is vital for converting sun’s energy to food for the plant in a process call photosynthesis. Magnesium also helps with production of carbohydrates and sugars to enhance flowering. Deficiencies occur mainly on sandy acid soils in high rainfall areas.

Sulphur (S): Sulfur is a major constituent of amino acids in plant proteins. It is involved in energy-producing processes in plants. It helps produce chlorophyll and play a vital roles in foliage and root development. It is responsible for many the flavour in many plants like onions, cabbage, garlic etc. Sulfur deficiency is not a problem in soils high in organic matter.

Micro- nutrients: These are trace elements that are needed in small quantities for healthy plant growth

Iron (Fe): Iron regulate and promote growth, components of enzymes, essential for chlorophyll synthesis, photosynthesis

Manganese (Mn): Manganese helps with photosynthesis, chloroplast formation, cofactor in many plant reaction, activate enzymes

Copper (Cu): Copper is an essential element of plant enzymes, involved in photosynthesis

Zinc (Zn): Zinc supports the production of plant hormones and auxins activity which are responsible for stem elongation and leaf expansion

Boron (B): Boron enhances the formation of cell wall in growing tissues. Important in sugar transport, cell division and amino acid production

Molybdenum (Mo): Needed by soil organism and bacterial in the nodules of legumes to convert atmospheric nitrogen into soluble nitrogen compounds in the soil like nitrate. It is vital in proteins formation from nitrates.

Chlorine (Cl): Used in turgor regulation, aid photosynthesis, resist diseases

Symptoms of nutrients deficiency in Plants 

Plants need the right combination of nutrients to live, grow and reproduce.  They often show symptoms of being unhealthy when they lack these nutrients. Below are some of the symptoms of nutrients deficiency that can be identify on the plant. 

Nutrients imbalance

Too little or too much of any one nutrient can cause problems of nutrients imbalance. So it is good to fertilize lightly and monitor or you test the soil before adding much fertilizer. Nutrients interacts with each other either synergistically to increase the uptake of one another or antagonistically to fight each other and lock each other out. Check the soil to make sure nutrients are not locked out of the plants and building up in the soil before adding supplemented nutrients. The Mulder’s chart specifically shows which nutrients in the soil increases (synergy) or decreases (antagonism) availability of the other nutrients in the soil.

Important plant nutrients across different growth stages 

Since different nutrients have different functions, the nutrient needs of a plant also changes from propagation to early vegetation, late vegetation to flowering. It begins with strong root development which require N. At early vegetation stage, the need of N and K increase to produce more leafy growth, horizontal branching and tight internodes. When flowering time arrives, N levels drops off and P intake increases slightly as the focus now is to produce dense, potent flowers. When the fruits are about to ripe, the need for K start increasing.

We recommend that you you stick to a N:K ratio of 5:4 during vegetative stage and drop it gradually to 2:3 during flowering. Research have shown that too much phosphorus during flowering may leads to many smaller nuts, but not bigger nuts and the need for P is pretty low throughout plant's life cycle. The Ca:Mg ration should be kept at 3:1 to balance charges and enhance uptake of plant nutrients. 

Change of nutrients requirement over different plant stages

In our next write-up, we shall discuss how to add these nutrients to the soil in naturally. We shall be uploading videos soon on our youtube channel. Subscribe to our channel, like, comment and hit on the notification button to keep up with update. Like our facebook page and follow us on instagram and twitter 

Crop & Livestock Integrated Farming System - Manure as fertilizer

 

Crop-livestock integrated farming system - cocoa, coffee, palms, fruit trees…

Coffee and cocoa plantations are dominated by smallholder farmers who play an important role in national economy. These smallholder farmers are facing problems with low productivity, low quality of products, un-used waste and dependence on external inputs. So most farmers are increasingly using inorganic fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides to boost production and control diseases and pests in agroforestry. This has led to an increase in external input cost, health risks and ecosystem pollution. To address these issues, we shall be looking at a more eco-friendly way of increasing crop production and profit at low cost, zero waste and minimal health risks through crop-livestock integrated farming e.g rearing goats, pigs and poultry in cocoa, coffee, oil palms, rubber and fruit trees farms.

Crop-Livestock integrated farming system

This practice integrates crop and livestock systems. Livestock play an important role in global food production and in agricultural and rural economies in many developing regions. The crop-livestock integration system is a sustainable, effective, efficient and environmentally friendly system of crops and livestock that builds explicitly between biomass-producing and processing, waste management, water use, energy generation and soil nutrient conservation. It provide opportunities for maintaining and extending biodiversity, livelihood diversification, provision of alternative income streams and increase crop yield at low input cost which makes this farming system more viable and profitable.

An integrated farming system consists of a range of resource-saving practices that aim to achieve acceptable profits, high and sustained production levels, while minimizing the negative effects of intensive farming and preserving the environment. The crops produce abundant animal feed as folders and crop residues. The trimmed cocoa leaves/rind, fruit leaves, cassava/beans/maize leaves and crop residues are used as supplementary feed for animals to raise body weight gain. The animals graze under the trees/plants and provide manures which are used as a source of organic fertilizer for plant/trees. The animals are also sold to provide additional source of income to the farmers. This system lead to zero waste as plants waste are used to feed animals and animals waste are used to fertilize the soil. Crop-livestock integration can also reduce the cost of controlling weeds. Birds prefer grass and smaller weeds while goats and pigs prefer foraging on broader leaves.

The benefits of integrated livestock-crop systems

Integrated farming systems optimize resource utilization through beneficial synergies rather than maximization of individual elements in the system.

Agronomy – enhance the productive capacity of the land, enhance land utilization, increase soil fertility, control weed and pests

 Social - create jobs in rural areas, reduce poverty, reduce urbanization, improve livelihoods and enhance food security

Economical -   products diversification, increase crop yields, reduce input cost, reduce livestock costs, increase livestock productivity and provide multiple income streams

Health - reduce health risks from chemicals, halt malnutrition (Animal - protein, Cereals - carbohydrate, Fruits - vitamin/minerals)

Environmental – Strengthen crop resilience, enhance soil micro-organism and biological activity, improve soil structure, reduce erosion, increase soil organic matter and nutrient cycling, reduce ecosystem pollution from external inputs, result to zero-waste, reduce draught and restore ecosystems.

Animal manure as organic fertilizers

Manures are plant and animal wastes that are used as sources of plant nutrients. They release nutrients when they decompose. Manure is an important by-product of the mixed crop–livestock farming systems in Sub-Saharan Africa and a traditional source of nutrients for farm crops. It remains a low cost soil fertility investment niche which farmers should exploit. Manure is a valuable source of nutrients, organic matter and renewable energy. It contains soil nutrients and organic matter which is vital in maintaining and improving soil health and soil fertility. Hence, application of manure as a fertilizer is essential in maintaining and improving food security and livelihoods. Therefore ‘Manure is food security’. At Suzy-Farms we focus on raising goats/sheep, poultry and pigs for both meat and manure production.

Goat feces

Goat manure: Each goat can produce 0.6-2.5L of urine per day and 2.68kg of feces per day, which can be processed into organic fertilizer for the plants/trees. Each hectare can accommodate 4-10 goats to provide enough fertilizer from their feces. Goat manure contains 69.2% organic matter, 4.9% Nitrogen (N), 4.1% phosphorus (P), 1.9% Potassium (K), 1% Calcium (Ca) and 0.9% Magnesium (Mg). Goat manure has less odour than other types of manure and is much drier and easy to spread and work with. It is a good soil conditioner rich in Nitrogen. It improves soil texture which provide a good environment for roots to grow and also provide good water retention capacity. It can be collected and loosely spread on farms or composted for four months before used. Goat manure is the best animal manure for healthy soil, healthier plants and increases crop yield.

Poultry manure: The average nutrient content of poultry manure are 3.1% Nitrogen, 2.6% Phosphorus and 1.4% Potassium. It is also an important source of micronutrient such as Zinc (Zn), Cupper (Cu), Iron (Fe), and Manganese (MN). Chicken manure is rich in phosphorus and should be composted for 4-6 weeks before usage in farms to avoid leaching. About 15-30 birds will provide good manure per hectare.

Pig manure: A big boar produces about 7kg of feces and 7kg of urine per day. This contain 25% organic matter, 0.5% N and 0.4% P. Three to six pigs per hectare can provide enough fertilization without adverse effect.

Actualization at Suzy-Farms

Chickens foraging on farms

We have partition our 200ha of land into planting blocks of 6ha with roads (6m wide) around each block to ease management. Within each block we have pens for 150 chickens, 20 pigs and 50 goats. We do free-range or pasture grazing within our permaculture blocks with perennial crops like cocoa, coffee, oil palms, fruit trees and rubber. Within our vegetables and food crop blocks, the pigs and goats are confine on suspended pens to ease collection of feces and urine. These waste are composted for 4 months before usage as fertilizers on vegetable beds and crop fields. 

Advantages of organic manure

1.     It provides natural fertilizer and reduce external input cost

2.     It helps in the slow release process of the nutrients and reduces leaching

3.     It helps to reduce the alkalinity of the soil

4.     It improves soil organic matter and quality

5.     It prevents soil pollution from inorganic fertilizer

6.     It serves as a source of energy for micro-organism which are beneficial to the soil and plants

7.     It increases soil humus content which enhance the water retention capacity of the soil

How to control Pests & Diseases in organic coffee agroforestry

 

Pests and diseases control in organic coffee agroforestry

Coffee is a perennial plantation crop which is often cultivated under agroforestry ecosystem. There are 2 species of coffee; Arabica and Robusta; which are grown under prolong wet weather conditions and invariably suffer from pests and diseases which reduce crop yield and quality. It is therefore important for farmers to identify these pests and diseases at an early stage and take appropriate action to keep plant healthy and prevent crop loss. Arabica coffee is more susceptible to pests and diseases than Robusta coffee. Below are the symptoms and control measures of 15 different coffee pests and diseases which need regular plant protection measures for improved crop production.

1.     Scale  (Coccus viridis)

Green coffee scale is a serious pest. The scale sucks sap from plants and produce honeydew. This encourages growth of sooty mould which reduce leaf area for photosynthesis. Scale infestation could drastically reduce the growth and yield of coffee berries. 

Coffee scale on leaf

Symptoms: A black sooty mould often develops on the leaves and attract ants. They are concentrated on the veins of the leaves and tips of new shoots. The tree can drop it leaves if badly affected.

Control: - Natural predators such as ladybug and wasps will reduce the scale infestation

• Soak 1 kg of tobacco in 2 liter of water for 2 nights. After 2 nights, you remove the tobacco, add 1/2kg of washing powder and fill up to 20 litter. Spray weekly for 4 weeks.
• Mix 200ml of mineral oil in 20L of water. Shake and spray to cover the scales.

2.  Aphids (Toxoptera aurantii)

Coffee Aphid

 Aphids occurs on new shoots often in the raining season. They suck sap from the young shoots and can damage the developing shoots. 

Symptoms: Aphids are often associated with black sooty mould and the large numbers of small black aphids are concentrated on new shoots

Control: - Add neem oil 10ml + liquid soup 2ml in 1L of water, shake well and use to spay aphid.

3.     Stem-borers (red - Zeuzera coffeae & white - Xylotrechus quadripes)

White stem borer

There are 2 types of stem borers – Red and White. The red borer has white and black spotted wings and its larvae tunnel through the top coffee branches causing them to sometimes break off. The white stem-borer is an active black and white banded beetle of about 2cm long. Its larvae are laid in cracks, crevices, loose scaly barks and thick branches. These larvae then enter the heart of the wood and tunnel even right to the roots. 

Symptoms: Stem-borer causes the leaves to wilt and eventually result to dead trees or branches that often breaks off.

Control: - Good shade and higher altitude reduce the incidence of stem-borer infestation

•  Prune and burn affected trees or branches with borers. 
• Avoid planting seedlings with twisted taproots because they develop to week trees that are easily infested by stem-borer.

Red stem borer

• Phyto-sanitary measures -remove any loose barks and thick coffee leaves where eggs are laid
• Frequent pruning and desuckering.
• Spray with 3% neem oil every 2 weeks.
• Apply 10% lime to main stem and thick branches

4   Coffee cherry borer (Hypothenemus hampei)

Coffee cherry borer

Coffee berry borer is a small black beetle (2mm) covered in thick hairs that bores into the berries through the navel region. They borer tunnel and lay eggs in hard beans, the eggs hatch within 10 days and the larvae further feed and tunnel into the beans. 

Symptoms: The young green cherries often drops or are damaged and could result to 50% loss in yield.

Control: - Prune coffee to keep bush as open as possible 

• Good drainage system to create a less humid environment for the beetle       

• Optimal shade to reduce heat – at high temperature the female borer lay more eggs, tunnel deeper and travel fast from berry to berry. 
•  Natural enemies of borer include wasp, Soldier ants, white footed ant and birds which feed on cherry borers especially under shade
• Neem oil spray repels (80%) and kills (65%) borer. Also try Eucalyptus oil
•  Leucaena Leucocephala
• Phyto-sanitation and hygiene - complete harvest, pick and burn all fallen berries
• Use alcohol such as ethyl alcohol and methyl alcohol (1:1) to trap borers 
• Quarantine infested cherries
• Dry of cherry to 12% moisture levels
• Use traps for adult borers
•  Release of parasitoid Cephalonomia stephanoderis in field, post-harvest to reduce  any inoculation over crop residues

5   Mealybug (Planococcus spp )

Coffee mealybug

Mealybugs are small sucking insects (3mm long) that are covered with a white mealy wax and feed on young shoots and roots. Serious infestation occurs where insecticides have been used before to kill all natural enemies of mealybug, especially in the dry season. 

Symptoms: White waxy colonies on underside of tender leaves, young shoots and around berries. Its often occurs together with heavy infestation of black sooty mould.

 Control:  - Ladybird, parasitic wasp and lacewings are very effective predators of mealybug.

• Neem oil (3%) spray is effective against mealy bugs and other sucking pest
• Maintain Proper shade management
• Circle root area with neem oil solution

6     Leaf miner (Leucoptera coffeina)

Coffee leaf miner

Leave miner is common with shaded coffee plantation 

Symptoms: Transparent areas in leaf with larvae (6mm long) under the leaf.

Control: None needed

7.    Termites: Make sure you remove dead woods from coffee plantation so ants don’t feed on it.

***Diseases: Coffee diseases affect plants in nursery as well as on the plantation. Coffee nursery are susceptible to Damping-off and brown leaf spot (cercospora leaf spot). Coffee plantation diseases include Cercospora leaf spot, coffee leaf rust, black sooty mould and Anthracnose (on bearing coffee trees) which often leads to overbearing dieback.

8.     Seedlings: damping-off (Pythium spp.)

Soft rotten stem

This is a fungus that attacks young seedlings after germination. It is cause by soil fungus, wet soil, high planting density and insufficient drying of soil due to much shade cover.

Symptoms: Soft and rotten coffee stem 

Control: - Always use new soil for nursery bed or pots

• Don’t water too m
• Plant seeds about 10cm apart – not too close

9.     Brown eye spot

Brown eye spot

 Cercospora leaf spot is a common nursery disease that occurs when the seedlings are stress out due to poor management. It is often cause by wet soil, poor air circulation, much shade cover and inadequate nitrogen and potassium. 

 Symptoms: Brown spot on leaves which appears as patches of burnt leave.

 Control: - Avoid much watering, maintain below 50% shade cover, 

•   Space seedlings to allow air circulation.

10.  Cercospora 

Berry blotch

This is cause by insufficient shade, inadequate leave nitrogen and potassium, excessive weed, and stress from drought and sun exposure.

Symptoms:  -  It appears as brown eye spot on leaves and sometimes on berries as berry blotch.

• Dark brown, sunken, necrotic spot on berries

Control: - Maintain 50% shade cover 

• Avoid sun scorching on berries and mulch
• Spray the developing berries with 1.0% Bordeaux mixture

 11.  Coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix)

Arabica coffee is susceptible to leaf rust especially in poorly shaded conditions and lower altitude. The leaf often drops off in severe conditions. The Catimor variety is more resistant to leaf rust.

Symptoms:

Coffee leaf rust

Pale yellow spot on leaves that expand into a powdery yellow to orange circle of about 2cm in diameter. Older rust spores become brown at the center, the leaf drops-off, dieback sets in and yield are drastically reduced. The berries become small, unripe and turn black.

Control: - Increase soil health by enhancing soil organic matter.

• Maintain 50% shade cover,
• Plant Arabica coffee only at high altitude of more than 1000m above sea leves
• Plant rust tolerant variety such as Catimor,
• Regular pruning of infested area
• Monthly spray of Bordeaux mixture (0.5%) from March to October. Especially before the flowers blossom and also in die-back areas.

12.  Sooty mould - (Capnodium spp.)

Coffee sooty mould

 The fungus appears when the plant is infested by pest such as scale, mealybugs and aphids. Ants care for the scales and further spread the sooty mould as they move around.

Symptoms: Black soot powder on leaf.

Control: - Control the pests and the disease will disappear.

• Spray plants with 1kg fish oil resin soap + 1kg starch in 200 litres of water

 13.  Anthracnose (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Penz.)

It often occurs during dry season and affects leaves, twigs and cherries; causing leave necrosis, twig die-back and beans brown blight.

Dark brown sunken spots

Symptoms: - Leaf necrosis – round dark brown spots which become sever during hot sun burnt 

• Twig die-back – yellowing of affected leaf area, twig wilt, defoliate and the tips die off
• Brown blight – Dark sunken lesion on cherries

Control: - Maintain healthy soil

• Prune affected plants in March
• Maintain overhead shade and mulch plant
• Protect plants by spraying 0.5% Bordeaux mixture in March, May and October

 14.  Overbearing or dieback

Coffee overbearing or dieback

This is actually a physiological problem and not a disease. So many cherries develop and all the nutrients move from the leaves to the cherries causing the leaves to fall off and dieback. The plant becomes weak and eventually the roots also dieback resulting to more leaves lost.  Health of the plant reduce and it finally dies out. 

Symptoms: -   Leaf loss, branch & root dieback

• Premature hard black cherries,
• Alternative bearing (one year much cherries, next year few cherries)
• Plants shrinks and die off

Control: -    Maintain 50% shade cover,

• Enhance organic matter for soil and plant health
•  Enhance nitrogen and potassium (nitrogen fixation trees)

15.  Black rot (Koleroga noxia)

This devastating pathogen infects leaves, developing berries and tender roots. They are also host to trees like oranges, pear, fig etc.

Symptoms: Black & rotten leaves, berries and young twigs. White mycelial strand running along the twig, petiole and spread to lower surface of leaf. Defoliation, loss of berries from infected branches and dieback

Control: -    Pruning of blighted twigs and infected berries along with mycelial thread

• Use of resistant varieties
• Biological control with parasitic fungus like Gliocladium spp., Trichoderma spp., Verticillium spp.
• Pruning and reducing shade before rain begins
• Avoid overcrowding and maintain good air circulation
• Prophylactic sprays of Bordeaux mixture (1%) on leaves and developing berries

Coffee black rot

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