TORRECAM BP 15332 Douala-Cameroon
Cell. Direction (237) 99 68 02 28 - Secretariat (237) 99 68 02 27

PLANTATION

Wood park
A wood park is a plantation of high density mother plants the varieties of which are perfectly identified, causing it to resemble a vineyard only for the purpose of producing pure strains upon which the young cuttings are taken.

Tree Farm
The tree farms of young plants come from either a seedbed for the Arabica species composed of selected seeds through hybridation (centers of agronomy research) or by massal selection (the best trees which are the most productive and the most resistant to disease, etc.), or by cuttings that take root in special cuttings containers for the Robusta species, cuttings taken from trees that have been specially cultivated in wood parks with the arcure technique. The cuttings are taken from the pure strains, thereby allowing for a reproductive multiplication of the quality of the mother plants, or the selected variety (clone) which is best adapted to the conditions of the regional ecosystem, origin of the quality and aroma of the coffee. The Arabica plants or the Robusta cuttings are then raised in an artificially shaded tree farm where each plant is watered in its sack or pot for 6 to 8 months, before being planted in an open field, under the natural shade from trees, or in the open sunshine, according to the adopted technique.

Harvest
Hand harvesting requires going over the plants several times, and this careful work will lead to the future quality of the coffee, since the immature beans are obligatorily eliminated after roasting. Only the plagiotrope stems will produce coffee beans. The flowering of the coffee plants is spread out over several weeks. The red coffee cherries begin to dry and are then removed according to several different techniques before grading the green coffee into several levels of quality.

Plantations
A coffee field is called a ‘coffee plantation’.
Coffee plantations are productive in all the inter-tropical and equatorial zones of the world. In an open field, there can be from 1000 to 1500 coffee plants per hectare, according to the techniques and results desired. The coffee plant must be trimmed, just as any fruit tree, or its branches can be made to take root in order to prolong its productive life. The Arabica species from Ethiopia can be cultivated from 800 to 1500 or even 2000 meters altitude, and with an average rainfall of from 1300 to 1800 m/m. The Robusta species, more or less from Africa, is cultivated in the coastal regions at less than 500 meters altitude, and requires more abundant rainfall from 2000 to 2500 m/m. The Arabica species has more aroma and Robusta is richer in caffeine. It is the delicate blending of these species that is done by the coffee roaster. There are other less important species, the production of which is quite limited, but they can often contribute a real plus in the roasted coffee blends.

TORRECAM BP 15332 Douala-Cameroon - TEL/FAX (237) 339 17 37 - Cell. Direction (237) 968 02 28 - Secretariat (237) 968 02 27