Here Is Everything You Need To Know About Farm Machinery Used In Coffee Farming

Mechanization in coffee cultivation and harvesting is still in its early stages. Many coffee farms are situated in rugged terrain. In some of these mountainous regions, mechanization is difficult.

Coffee is the second most traded commodity, after oil. Coffee is grown in slope terrain in hilly tracts under shade trees in India and the majority of farm work has been done by hand. Coffee is still a popular hand crop today. Mechanization in coffee cultivation and harvesting is still in its early stages. Many coffee farms are situated in rugged terrain. In some of these mountainous regions, mechanization is difficult or impossible.

Machinery Used In Coffee Farming

Here we've mentioned the machinery used in coffee farming, from the beginning of the process to the end.

Post Hole Diggers/Pit Diggers

Digging pits is an important operation required for planting coffee seedlings, pepper plants, and shade trees. The use of manual labor to dig pits is tedious and time-consuming. However, under normal conditions (deep soil without gravel or stones), the use of pit diggers was evaluated, and the results were highly encouraging, saving 50% in terms of labor requirements and cost factor incurred over the same pitting exercise when done manually.

Brush and weed cutters

Weed management is one of the cultural operations in coffee plantations that are labor intensive and expensive, accounting for approximately 8 to 10% of the total man-day requirement per year. To control weeds in coffee, two types of weed cutters are used: mechanical weed cutters/brush cutters and rotary mowers. Both weed cutters are found to be cost-effective, saving 50% of the cost of manual weeding.

Harvesters

Coffee harvesting occurs during a specific time of year and accounts for approximately 30 to 40% of total labor requirements. Hand-held, battery-powered harvesting machines would be beneficial and efficient in this situation. The performance is good, with labor savings of 17 and 36% over manual harvesting of Arabica and Robusta, respectively.

Coffee mechanization requirements

1. A self-propelled harvester can handle a 22% incline, but the terrain must be reasonably modulated.

2. Rock removal is required because machines do not mix well with rocks. This applies to both harvesting and orchard maintenance.

3. Field layout must adhere to machine spacing specifications. Turnaround areas, including field entry and exit, must be specified.

4. Adequate dimensions are required for supporting roads.

5. Provisions for drainage and erosion control are critical for a long-term operation.

6. Effective groundcover planting is essential.

7. Machines save labor but require qualified maintenance and parts availability.

8. If irrigation is required, infrastructure must support the machinery.

9. To coexist with machinery, windbreak or shade trees must be planted.

10. Coffee varieties that are shorter and more compact are better suited to mechanical harvesting.

11. Mechanization and machine selection are region-specific, with options based on topography and soil conditions.

Driving a tractor or large machinery in a coffee estate is not considered the mechanization of a coffee estate. It is rather finding ways to carry out farm operations smoothly and effectively while using the least amount of energy, which is cost-effective for the planter and improves farm worker efficiency by reducing drudgery. Furthermore, because Indian coffee plantations grow on sloped terrain under the shade tree canopy, their mechanization requirements differ from those of other countries such as Brazil. Certain changes to the land terrain in existing coffee fields are required to ensure the efficient use of farm machinery.

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