Farm: Debeka
SCA: 86
Country: Ethiopia
Altitude: 1600-1900 masl
Roast: Light
Varieties: Heirloom
Process: Washed
You remember that old school Yirgacheffe juice sensation; this is that but with modern cultivar technology, giving you more bang for you buck. Blueberry, Citrus, Lemon
DEBEKA
Debeka Farm is one of the main farms of Kerchanshe. Coffee is grown under a sprawling one-hectare greenhouse so that they are grown uniformly.
All agronomic practices are computer controlled using smart techniques. Disease resistant varieties are cultivated and other preventive methods like thinning, pruning are used to prevent weeds.
Only organic fertilizers made up of mixture of forest soil, parchment coffee and loam soil are used to increase our production (yield). Coffee seedlings are grown in nursery beds or polybags and are planted in the coffee fields when they reach 20-40 cm. The coffee bean start germination with an interval of 15 days and drip irrigation is used.
Two methods are used for the germination of seeds. In one method, coffee seeds are pre-germinated by spreading on a sand bed and covering with moist burlap bag sacks or straw.
The seeds are watched closely and removed as soon as radicals emerge. Once pre-germinated, the coffee seedlings are planted in nursery beds containing soil consisting of well-rotted cattle manure and other organic fertilizer. The nursery beds are 1 meter wide and 50 cm deep and seedlings are spaced between 12-15 cm apart 20 cm apart for 30-40 cm tall plants. The nursery beds are shaded 50 % for the first couple months. Shading is reduced slowly and completely removed the last two months before planting coffee seedlings.
An alternative method of germinating coffee beans is to mix the seeds with moist vermiculite or expanded polystyrene and kept in a polythene bag.
For propagation, ripe red cherries are collected, pulped, and the mucilage is removed by fermentation.
The freshly picked coffee seeds (typically referred to as beans) can either be planted immediately or dried for later use. Coffee drying takes place on wire mesh trays in the shade.
Dried coffee seeds can be used up to a year or more if safely stored. The right storage ensures longer seed life.
Premium coffee from Debeka farms is exported to the world market since 2017.