Obstacles and problems of coffee planting in Yemen
The dependence on the production of any crop on rainfed agriculture in some areas makes it difficult to obtain stable production. The Coffee Agriculture in Yemen faces several obstacles and problems:
First: environmental constraints
1-Incidence of annual precipitation rates. (Unsatisfactory rainfall), with insufficient access of some crops to harvest.2-The poor seasonal distribution of rain and most areas during the growth season, which is the basis in determining the productivity of the unit area, which is often missing, noting in most years of high rainfall during a very short period, which negatively affects the life of the crop because of the lack of crop needs In addition to the negative impact of such precipitation on soil as a result of erosion.
3-Terrible terrain.
4-Severe slopes of rain-fed areas lead to soil erosion.
5-Water scarcity with low annual rainfall.
6-The soil sector within the terraces is small, and this is reflected in the quantity of rainwater stored in the sector, which is not sufficient to reach the plant.
7-Soil depth in some valleys ranges from 0.5 to 1.3 meters in addition to the presence of stones and gravel and this type of soil does not help to retain water.
8-Soil strength and the role it plays in the process of leaching rainwater through the soil sector, because most of the soils in the valleys and terraces are characterized by being heavy and here a large part of the rainwater is lost by running.
9-The decrease in temperature in winter and the occurrence of frosts during the month of January leads to the death of a large number of coffee trees and the high temperature in the summer to more than 30 degrees Celsius during the dry atmosphere leads to the wilting of leaves, and may fall leaves if this phenomenon, When rain occurs after this period, the plant uses it to reconstitute new leaves and this results in loss of production and quality.
Second: Problems
1-The small size of agricultural holdings owned by farmers and the reflection of this increase in the cost of production.2-High input production costs.
3-Lack of farmers' support.
4-The scientific research and extension agency did not fulfill its desired role.
5-Competition of imported coffee.
6-The spread of diseases and their various causes.
7-The predominance of qat crop in the process of agricultural attention, marketing and area as a daily cash crop.
8-Lack of research on water harvesting techniques that preserve the moisture of the crop, especially during critical periods of its growth stages.
9-Horizontal expansion is impossible due to the cultivation of coffee crops in the hills, mountains and valleys. Horizontal expansion also requires the addition of new inputs to add the target area such as the land reclamation process and what is required. Therefore, table 1 shows that the increase in cultivated area has not achieved its goal of increasing production due to the existing imbalance, The productivity of the unit area and this means the existence of obstacles and problems led to the lack of development of the production of Arab coffee.
Third: technical obstacles in the rain sector
1-Poor preparation and preparation of soil, especially in the mountainous areas of the terraces where the municipal plow is used, which leads to the formation of a deaf layer, which affects the productivity of the crop because of lack of absorption of soil for rain water and impede the spread of roots.2-The absence of agricultural machinery for either high costs, lack of availability, or difficulty in using them to narrow the agricultural sectors especially the mountain terraces
3-The limited efficiency of the various field operations is among the constraints in the production of rain crops.
The following table shows that, after calculating the productivity of the unit area, there is a slight increase in the area of coffee production, which played an important role in the relative increase in production, but the productivity (yield) in the unit area increased by a small percentage is negligible Sana'a, Hajjah, Saada and Al Mahweet). This indicates that there has been no development in the production of the coffee crop because productivity has remained low. This explains that the factors identified in the production of coffee crop are environmental factors and, in particular, Rainfall rates and seasonal distribution of rain from year to year .
The table of the annex shows the area (ha), production (tons), and productivity (kg) of coffee yield in the main production areas in the Republic of Yemen during the period 2008-2012.
Source (1): Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation - Agricultural Statistics Book 2012.