Ecobreves – CUBA: Coffee Grown with Its Own Waste

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

HAVANA, Nov 10 2003 (IPS) - Coffee growers in eastern Cuba have significantly increased production with the application of fertilizer made from the waste material produced in processing the coffee for consumption. The yield of 30 hectares of the Guantánamo Coffee Plantation grew from 0.14 to 0.40 tons per hectare over the past three years of using the organic fertilizer, produced from the decomposed pulp.

The coffee waste can be environmentally harmful if dumped in or near water sources, but as a biological application it reduces the environmental impact of the coffee industry while providing much-needed microorganisms for the soil.