berry is removed, usually by machine, and the seeds - usually
called beans - are fermented to remove the slimy layer of mucilage
still present on the bean. When the fermentation is finished, the
beans are washed with large quantities of fresh water to remove
the fermentation residue, which generates massive amounts of
highly polluted coffee wastewater. Finally, the seeds are dried;
the best, but least utilized method of drying coffee is by using
drying tables. In this method the pulped and fermented coffee
is spread thinly on raised beds, which allows the air to pass on
all sides of the coffee. The next step in the process is the roasting
of the green coffee. Coffee may be brewed by several methods:
boiled, steeped, or pressured. Brewing coffee by boiling was
the earliest method, and Turkish coffee is an example. It is
prepared by powdering the beans with a mortar and pestle, then
adding the powder to water and bringing it to a boil in a pot.
This produces a strong coffee with a layer of foam on the surface.
Machines such as percolators or automatic coffeemakers brew
coffee by gravity. Ground coffee and hot water are combined in
a coffee press and left to brew for a few minutes. A plunger is
then depressed to separate the coffee grounds, which remain
at the bottom of the container. Because the coffee grounds are
in direct contact with the water, all the coffee oils remain in the
beverage, making it stronger and leaving more sediment than
in coffee made by an automatic coffee machine.
Botanical description of Coffee
Coffee has become a vital cash crop for many Third World
countries. Coffee is from the family Rubiaceae and an evergreen
shrub or small tree that may grow 5 meters tall. The leaves are
dark green and glossy, usually 100–150 millimeters long and 60
millimeters wide. It produces clusters of fragrant white flowers
that bloom simultaneously. The fruit berry is oval, about 15
millimeters long and green when immature, but ripens to yellow,
then crimson, becoming black on drying. Each berry usually
contains two seeds. Coffee is usually propagated by seeds. The
traditional method of planting coffee is to put 20 seeds in each
248 coffee
ANCHOR
INDIA
hole at the beginning of the rainy season; half are eliminated
naturally. The first Coffee plants grew wild to a height of 30 feet in
the African tropical forests. But in systematic plantation practices
the plant is pruned and kept at a height of about15 feet, for easy
picking of the Coffee berries. While Robusta is a shrub and grows
like a bush spread out with several trunks, the Arabica plant is of a
smaller variety. Coffee plant produces white flowers at the axils of
the leaves in thick clusters. A ripe Coffee berry is red in colour and
when it starts maturing it turns to bright red and then to reddish
brown and finally falls down to the ground. As a normal harvesting
practice, many planters pick it up from the ground, but most of
them pluck it when it turns red in colour. Coffee plants are best
grown in higher altitudes in tropical 25 degree latitude on either
sides of the equator. To escape the infection of various parasites,
Coffee plants are grown at an elevation of 3000 to 6000 feet MSL.
Coffee plants does not agree to too much of sunlight, so when it
grows on mountain slopes it gets the natural advantage of getting
only half a days sunlight. They best suits to filtered or moderate
sunlight which peeps though overhead shady trees. Coffee yields
for more than 50 years.
Coffee Board
Coffee Board is a statutory organization under the Ministry of
Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India, constituted under the Coffee
Act VII of 1942. The Board consists of a Chairman appointed by
the Govt. of India and 32 members representing the various
interests like members of Parliament, representatives from
Governments of principal coffee growing states viz. Karnataka,
Kerala Tamil Nadu and A.P., representatives of large coffee
growers, small coffee growers, coffee trade interests, coffee curing
establishments, labour interests, coffee growing states other than
principal coffee growing states, consumer interests, instant coffee
manufacturers, eminent personality in the filed of Research/
Marketing/Management/Promotion of coffee. The Mission of the
Board is to function as the leader in conducting research, providing
extension support to improve production, productivity and