Debeka Farm.

Site Description

DEBEKA FARM is an open coffee production system which is owned by kerchanshe. This farm is found in at debeka kebele, Abaya District of West Guji Zonal Admiration at GPS reading of Latitude 6.34N, Longitude 38.19E. The altitude is 1600-2000 above sea level and suitable for special coffee plantation. The rainfall is bimodal with annual total of 800-1200 mm and the mean annual temperature of 17 to 28 ℃. The escarpment slopes of the study landscape are also distinguished by the dominance of Nitisols-a type of soil characterized by deep, reddish-brown clayey with moderately high organic matter content, constituting well-drained and fertile soils. The planted farm area is 176ha.

Coffee Type

The beans are medium size with greenish to greyish color. There are different types of coffee varieties in this farm; namely: 74112,74158,74148,74140. The flowering season of the farm is from June to July. The cupping characteristics is described as spicy Notes Like Cardamom, Clove, Rue and Citrus Like Blueberry, Sweet Lemon, Papaya, Chocolate Notes and long after Taste Like Lemon Grass, with medium body and medium pointed acidity.

Irrigation

Debeka farm is first of it is kind in Ethiopia; as it uses the modern technology/drip irrigation on field of coffee and overhead sprinkler in the nursery site. For this purpose, 2 bore holes with 250m depth and a reservoir are established. We use electric power to fill the reservoir. We water the farm directly from the reservoir via drip irrigation.

Farm Management

Debeka farm is without a shade. We use plastic mulch to reduce evapotranspiration, to hamper weed growth and to protect against soil borne diseases.

The farm is divided in blocks and each block do have specific variety, management and elevation. The product from each block is kept separately from each other.

Around the farm, there are small-scale farmers who are closely working with us. The farm is supporting the community on providing jobs, technology transfer and supplying seedlings, We also engage in community projects like school and road construction.

Annual production is about 500,000kg of red cherry. The volume is expected to increase from year to year as the farm is at an early years of development.