Comments on: Banana + Coffee = More

By: Piet van Asten

Piet van Asten — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 09:53:15 +0000

Dear Omar - there is no reason to believe that this should not work in the Philippines. The intercropping of bananas and coffee is something that is practiced by farmers (mostly small-scale, not often in plantations that are very large) in many coffee growing ecologies in Latin-America and South-East Asia as well.
The only limitation would be if your soil fertility is poor - in that case bananas will not do well and will loose the competition for nutrients. It is also important that you think about coffee and banana plant densities. A very high banana density may lead to too much shading for coffee. Literature studies on coffee shading suggest that shading levels up to 40% are OK, but higher shading levels may negatively impact coffee yield. Coffee quality is often (but not always) improved under shading. I hope this helps, Piet

By: omar

omar — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 08:06:32 +0000

interesting! can this research be applied in the philippines? because i already started planting bananas and planning to intercrop it with coffee. hope this is possible, some advice pls

By: Nickitta

Nickitta — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 13:29:12 +0000

Coffee is still the most important crop for Burundi’s economy as it contributes to more than 81% of the total export earnings.

By: kayode alofun

kayode alofun — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 16:11:52 +0000

I need education/information about growing coffee in rainforest in western Nigeria. What are the economic potentials of coffee farming?
What varieties are recommended and what are the threats to its growth?
I remember that a stray seed grew in the farmland and became exceedinly fruitful,indicating the land is favourable to its growth.
Please advise me.

Kayode Alofun

By: Piet van Asten

Piet van Asten — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:40:36 +0000

Thanks Stephen for your comment on this article. Indeed, we realize that particularly in smallholder farming systems with limited access to resources and a strong desire from farmers to spread risks, coffee banana intercropping is providing a lot of benefits for the farmer. In Burundi, we have discovered during recent surveys that an increasing number of farmers are already intercropping coffee and banana, contrary with what was recommended in the past in Burundi. ISABU has recognized that this has to be investigated and together with them we are currently conducting research on the possibility to intercrop banana and Arabica coffee in Burundi. Burundi is still very careful when it comes to spreading new coffee intercrop recommendations. Understandably, they first want to be able to await the results from ongoing field trials. Coffee is by far the biggest foreign revenue source for the country and they don’t want to risk yield losses. We understand this cautious approach, but are quite excited about the potential that this research could bring to Burundian farmers. If the intercropping works in Burundi as it does in Uganda, then this would give benefits to both farmers and the country, provided farmers do not only introduce banana in their coffee field, but also introduce coffee in their banana field. Both crops have to be carefully managed and it only works if plant densities and sizes are controlled. In addition, for both banana and coffee, it’s important not to disturb their superficial root systems too much. Hence, if farmers opt to plant beans in their coffee and banana fields, then that should be preferably be done by practicing zero-tillage and mulching. We are currently conducting a number of on-farm and on-station trials on that in Burundi together with ISABU. We look forward to explore these technologies further with other partners.

By: Stephen Stordy

Stephen Stordy — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:25:45 +0000

This is very important research for Burundi, where coffee production is in decline and coffeee growers are not allowed to intercrop their coffee with banana. I believe that the revenue of coffee growers would increase if they were allowed to intercrop with banana - although the density of tree/ha would have to be reduced, the controlled planting of banana would encourage improved mulching and management of the coffee trees. More research is urgently needed.

By: ben

ben — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:04:32 +0000

Straight bananas = More.

This is an interesting article. Someone much cleverer than myself recently wrote an exposé on straight bananas as an environmentally sustainable choice.

Straight bananas are probably something worth exploring.

You can read about it here…
http://benaston.com/2008/12/09/bananas-bananas/

By: Mario Serracin

Mario Serracin — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 10:04:05 +0000

Very interesting projects and results. Congratulations!
We are very interested in supporting the production and market of specialty arabica & organic coffee from these production systems, in collaborative projects in Rwanda. Mario Serracin. Plant Pathologist, http://www.rogersfamilyco.com