Jm. Njoroge et Jk. Kimemia, INFLUENCE OF TREE TRAINING AND PLANT-DENSITY ON YIELDS OF AN IMPROVEDCULTIVAR OF COFFEA-ARABICA, Experimental Agriculture, 30(1), 1994, pp. 89-94
The effect on Coffea arabica cv. Ruiru 11 of training the trees on a s
ingle or two stem system at planting densities of between 1600 and 480
0 trees ha-1 during the first production cycle after establishment was
studied at three contrasting sites in Kenya. Training tree growth in
the two stem system significantly depressed yields from the first two
crops at all sites, irrespective of plant density, but yields caught u
p with the production levels of the single stem system faster in the w
etter than in the drier zone. Yields of clean coffee increased with tr
ee density up to 4000 trees ha-1 at all sites, irrespective of tree tr
aining method, but increased more slowly at populations of more than 4
000 trees ha-1, especially in the drier zone. The proportion of large,
grade A, coffee beans was not significantly influenced by the treatme
nts studied.