Tools every coffee farmer must have

What you need to know:

  • According to extension officer Joseph Ruyombo, an agronomist with Ugacof, the most important tools for any coffee farmers are those that are used to help with clearing and pruning of their coffee gardens, weed control, drying and control quality, writes George Katongole.

In coffee farming, you are only as good as your tools, regardless of whether you are a smallholder or large scale coffee farmer.

“Tools are our survival kits,” says Josephine Nalwadda Mayanja the chairperson of Kibali Social Economic and Development Association a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) in Buikwe District.

Nalwadda is one of the 240 members of the VSLA, who have been benefitting from extension work by Ugacof in a bid to boost production and quality. Ugacof, on top of offering good prices, give farmers knowledge about the best practices.

“Many of our farmers are poor and they cannot afford these tools. But with good prices, we are able to get the necessary tools. Some of these are shared amongst members,” she adds.

According to extension officer Joseph Ruyombo, an agronomist with Ugacof, the most important tools for any coffee farmers are those that are used to help with clearing and pruning.

Spray pumps
To cut on production costs, farmers should be equipped with spray pumps as they are efficient and cost-saving. He recommends a motorised pump though hand-held pumps can work. A motorised pump can cover up to five hectares a day while hand-held options cover a hectare within the same time. The pumps can also be used to spray other crops. At Shs850,000, a farmer has a worthy investment.

Secateurs
These are a key component in coffee desuckering which helps to maintain a single stem and avoid competition from suckers. In coffee farms, secondary branches should be removed within 20cm of the main stem and secateurs come in handy, according to Ruyombo.

Spades
Spades are the aces of coffee farming especially when it comes to mixing fertilisers. According to Ruyombo, spades save a lot of time yet they are cheap. “Even if it is about mixing manure or artificial fertilisers, spades are a must have at any farm,” he says.

Saws
Two saws are of great use to a coffee farmer, the pruning saw and the bow saw. Every after 6-7 year cycle, coffee trees are pruned. Most farmers use machetes but Ruyombo says the best tool is a pruning saw. All pruning saws are normally used for commercial purposes and not for small domestic gardening. But when it comes to cutting down large and heavy tree branches, pruning saws are unavoidable.

Wheelbarrow
The wheelbarrow enables the convenient carriage of heavier and bulkier loads especially fertilisers and manure, seeds, fodder, construction materials, other farm tools and harvested coffee, among others.

Tarpaulin
According to Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), coffee must be picked when it is red ripe and dried on tarpaulin.

The drying regime begins immediately after harvest to avoid the development of moulds.
The cherries are spread out to dry in the sun on suitable drying surfaces and for small scale farmers, raised trays or tarpaulins are advised to achieve uniform drying. With Shs200,00, you can get a durable tarpaulin.

Tester
Drying green beans and coffee at parchment stage is an important part of the production process. Typically, an unprocessed and ripe bean will contain about 45 to 55 per cent moisture after picking. Knowing the moisture content of your beans will impact everything from the development of mould and presence of pests.

This is where a moisture tester comes in handy. Ruyombo says that most of the buyers want coffee humidity to be between 10 and 12 per cent making measuring and keeping track of humidity so important. A moisture analyser can cost up to Shs3.6m. “But this can be obtained in a group,” Ruyombo advises.