Product quality affected by associated plants in agroforestry: case studies with coffee and timber from Costa Rica
The evaluation of agroforestry associations has traditionally focussed primarily on the quantities of the crops and trees produced. Quality attributes, of increasing importance for emerging specialty markets such as gourmet coffee, have generally been neglected. In this paper, the possible effects of agroforestry associations on the quality of products are reviewed and illustrated with studies on the quality of coffee and timber from plants grown in agroforestry associations or in pure plantations. In low-elevation, sub-optimal environments for coffee in costa Rica, increasing shade intensity from 0 percent to more than 80 percent under unpruned shade trees (Erythrina poeppigiana) increased bean size of Coffea arabica significantly. While the large beans diameter > 17/64ths of an inch (6.75 mm)) accounted for 49 and 43 percent of the coffee from sungrown Caturra and Catimor, respectively, these proportions increased to 69 and 72 percent under dense permanent shade. Blind tasting experiments showed consistent shade-induced improvements in appearance of green and roasted coffee as well as in acidity and body of the brew. The higher quality under shade demonstrated the power of tree facilitation under sub-optimal low-elevation conditions. Preliminary results on timber quality of 12-year-old Cordia alliodora, a high-value timber species from Costa Rica, showed increased cracking of centerpiece boards and significantly reduced branchless bole lengths from the trees that grew fastest. These were the trees grown in agroforestry associations where they benefitted from weeding and fertilization of the associated crops. Pure plantation timber had less defects. Detailed information on structural and stability attributes of the timber will be available by the end of 1999. The study of quality aspects and determinant environmental controls deserves increasing attention in the future.
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| Format: | biblioteca |
| Published: |
Viena (Austria)
2000
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| Subjects: | CATIMOR, CATURRA, COFFEA ARABICA, CORDIA ALLIODORA, ERYTHRINA POEPPIGIANA, AGROFORESTERIA, ARBOLES FORESTALES, CULTIVOS ASOCIADOS, TAMAÑO, CALIDAD, FACTORES AMBIENTALES, AROMA, ESTUDIOS DE CASOS, COSTA RICA, |
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