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By Joshua Kato
- Avoid picking immature coffee. When picking coffee, carefully pick only the mature red beans, leaving the green ones on the tree to ripen. Always pick, do not strip. Understand that when you pick immature coffee, you lose on two sides.
- You lose at least 30% of the coffee weight you would have got if you harvested it when mature, since immature coffee weighs less. You also lose customers if they discover that you harvest immature coffee.
- Do not let coffee beans drop on the ground during harvesting. Tarpaulin or other soft sheets must be spread on the ground below the coffee tree to prevent coffee beans from directly dropping to the ground. The sheets will also ensure proper collection of all the beans and minimise contamination. If they drop on the bare ground, the beans should be collected carefully.
- Be selective when picking coffee. Remove all inferior or green beans, leaves, twigs and foreign matter from harvested beans. Pick regularly, every two weeks, to get good yields and better quality.
