STiR coffee and tea magazine

50 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 1, 2018 (February / March) The way towards quality in robusta/conilon production starts with better process- ing methods and a different approach to soil nutrition and harvest techniques. At Ven- turim's farm, spacing between trees was aligned with the property's topography. New clonals accelerated growth and guarantee uniform maturation. "We decided to enter five samples of our conilon in the Coabriel cooperative quality contest the first year that we processed the harvest with arabica equipment. Our pulped natural won 1º, 2º, 3º, 4º and 9º place. It was impressive!" says Venturim. He said that changing the pro- cessing method resulted in a big leap in quality. Witnessing this significant change, some producers betting on canephora's better quality translate their philosophy with humor: don't treat as arabica someone who treats you like robusta. According to them, robusta and conilon beans have a great potential for interesting sensorial profiles but bad management and terrible post-har- vesting processes eliminate all the chances of a good coffee. Science is a strong partner in showing new ways to look at robusta/conilon pro- duction. For Lucas Louzada, IFES' researcher, natural and pulped natural processing methods are already well applied in several robusta/conilon farms in Espirito Santo state. "Our goal now is try to improve sensorial attributes even more with spontaneous and induced fermentation. We want to break the robusta's sensorial aggressiveness, eliminate wood notes and make it sweeter/tastier for the final consumer's palate", concludes. The first official cupping with high quality conilon is just the beginning, it is the tip of the iceberg. "The main objective of this program is to show the world that conilon has as much potential as arabica. They just need to receive a good treatment as arabica beans do. It is proven that there is an interesting sensorial range that can be appreciated in cups from different countries", states Lucas Louzada. For decades the ugly duckling in the Coffea Canephora family, conilon was relegated to serve as a cheap caffeine source for the soluble industry. This is about to end. Conilon Clones Maria Amélia Ferrão, a researcher at Embrapa Café who specializes in the genetic improve- ment of coffee at INCAPER, explains that tra- ditional plantations relied primarily on coffee planted from seed. This results in a variety of sizes and shapes in trees that display different characteristics; differ in susceptibility to pests, do not have uniform of fruit or the same timing to maturation. This is not good for business. That is why producers prefer clones for consistent commercial performance. Basi- cally, rows of the exact same plant are cul- tivated side by side to facilitate the harvest. Maturation happens at the same time and the consistency brings better prices. The book Conilon Coffee – Production Techniques with Improved Varieties lists some of the varieties launched and recom- mended for the State of Espirito Santo. EMCAPA 8111 Clonal variety released in 1993, formed by a group of nine clones compatible with each other. Early and uniform maturation with har- vest due April/May. The first four non-irrigated crops have a productivity of 58 bags (sieve 14) of processed coffee per hectare. EMCAPA 8141 – ROBUSTÃO CAPIXABA Clonal variety launched in 1999, formed by a group of 10 clones compatible with each other. With great drought tolerance, it can produce 53 bags of processed beans per hectare. VITÓRIA INCAPER 8142 Launched in May 2004, this varietal is formed by a group of 13 clones. High productivity, yield stability, drought tolerance and resis- tance to rust are the main features for this plant. An average of 70 bags of processed beans per hectare was registered in the last eight non-irrigated harvests. Conilon is pulped and washed at some Espírito Santo farms. Photo Credit: Harley Kalk da Silva (courtesy of Venturim Farm) Improving post-harvest processing, such as the use of raised drying beds, is key to improving conilon quality

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