Coffee (Cafe arabica var. Bourbon) Fruit Growth and Development Under Varying Shade Levels in the Soconusco Region of Chiapas, Mexico

The belief that less shade cover will increase coffee production has encouraged farmers to reduce or eliminate shade trees from coffee agroforestry systems. However, this reduction in shade may alter environmental factors within coffee systems that may adversely affect fruit production in low-input systems. This will be especially detrimental in light of current climate change patterns in Southern Mexico. In this study, coffee fruit growth, fruit drop, and fruit weight were examined under two different levels of shade cover (high = 60% to 80% and medium = 30% to 50%) in low-input coffee farms of Chiapas, Mexico. Coffee berries were counted and measured throughout the 2005 growing season and weighed at harvest. Results showed that solar radiation, temperature, humidity, and soil moisture were correlated with fruit growth, all of which are environmental factors heavily controlled by shade cover. Fruit drop was highly correlated to both wind and soil moisture. Fruit weights were also highly correlated to soil moisture, but not significantly different between sites. Yield extrapolations calculated from site data showed little difference between the two sites, indicating that the high-shade site produced equally well to the medium-shade site. Future management for coffee agriculture should address the use of shade to maintain beneficial environmental factors for coffee production, since more highly shaded coffee systems are able to maintain productive environmental factors and high production rates.