A Cultivation System for Groundwater (VLEI) Soils

Abstract

Now that many planters producing coffee (Coffee arabica) in climatic areas subject to periods of drought appreciate the value of mulching in terms of both soil improvement and enhanced crop yield [I] [2] [3], the need for more land to increase mulch grass production has become a problem on many estates. In addition to the development of suitable land outside the coffee. It is a recommended field practice to remove old, debilitated and uneconomic coffee now growing on the poorer phases of the Kikuyu red loam soil type, and replace it with Napier grass (Pennisefum purpureum) which is still!! Considered to be the most satisfactory mulching material. These areas occur on the steeper slopes, have been subject to severe losses of top soil by sheet erosion in the past, and must in many cases have been unsuitable for coffee even when this crop was first planted. While the need to grow this mulch grass as a "crop". i.e. with adequate cultivation, manuring. etc. to obtain high yields. is stressed, mulch production areas of this type are frequently inadequate and the effective utilization of the ground-water or Vlei soils which occur on many coffee estates for mulch production would be of great assistance.