Satis experts provide guidance on the main points to ensure good coffee maturation

Coffee producers willing to achieve better results, especially in terms of higher quality of the drink, must pay attention to some specific guidelines to ensure good maturation. Satis National Technical Support, agronomist Cláudio Gusmão, states that the main point is related to plant nutrition. “A well-balanced nutrition, managing to provide nutrients in quantities and at the times the plant needs, is a very important point to achieve its ideal structure, robustness and good development”, he advises.

Gusmão highlights that the second point, which is also related to nutrition, is phytosanitary management. This is because the attack of diseases and pests, such as cercospore, can interfere with the uniformity and standardization of maturation. “Good phytosanitary management combined with good nutrition means that the plant can have good uniformity of maturation and that the fruits ripen at the ideal time”. The agronomist advises that, in addition to varieties with different ripening times, producers must plan the removal of coffee at the correct time in order to obtain the highest possible rate of cherry fruit in the area. In other words, when the fruit is ready after reaching higher quality and absorbing all its characteristics.

Satis, a company from Minas Gerais specializing in plant nutrition, monitors the behavior of coffee trees in the main producing regions of the country. Gusmão considers that optimizing the structure is another factor that should be considered by producers. “We have to harvest the ripe fruit, at the ideal harvest point. However, there must be an efficient structure of post-harvest equipment, such as machines to harvest at the ideal time, drying structure”. Equally important is the use of tools to aid management. Mathury is one of these indications, as, with good nutrition and good phytosanitary management, the product from Satis' special line can help with harvest scheduling, resulting in fruits that are ripe for longer. This will reduce the amount of ground coffee and the so-called float fruit – which have dried and lost weight –, contributing to the optimization of the structure.

misunderstandings

Gusmão and agronomist César Pirajá, who also monitors coffee plantations, point out some common mistakes made by producers. Unbalanced nutrition is one of them, generating a boron-deficient plant that can lead to the fruit cracking and drying faster, that is, in a faster drying cherry maturation process, with nutritional imbalance in the calcium to potassium ratio. Furthermore, the attack of diseases and pests such as the borer damages the fruit, accelerates the ripening process, interferes with harvest programming and equipment optimization.

Pirajá also highlights that many producers believe that with the preparation process of drying the peeled cherry fruit they only gain in the added value of the bag. “But the biggest benefit of making a peeled cherry fruit is the optimization of its post-harvest structure because the coffee spends less time in the dryer, occupies a smaller volume of land and optimizes its entry and exit during drying. This means you can harvest more coffee at the ideal point. Many producers fail to harvest at the ideal point because they do not have a post-harvest structure”, observes Pirajá.