Physical analyses study the….Quality of Yemeni coffee [Archives:2003/637/Business & Economy]

The Research Unit at the Ministry of Agriculture has gathered 25 samples from various kinds of Yemeni coffee from various governorates that are renowned for growing this plant throughout ancient times in mountainous terraces, lowlands and valleys. By gathering those coffee samples the Unit aimed at studying effects on its quality by conducting chemical and physical analyses at the Coffee Institute in the French city of Monbilier. The ministry of agriculture gathered samples from fruits of Yemen's tree of coffee and had documented that as a first step towards establishing a genealogical bank containing the new categories and generalizing their growing in future in compatible with the regions suitable for their plantation. The research included conducting field surveys of areas growing coffee with the aim of field categorization and fixing the quantities of production and its times along the year. Researches also confirm that quality of Yemeni coffee can be attributed to the fact that the ancestors did not apply chemical material for fighting diseases in coffee farms as they are lately being used by some farmers. Those materials affect production and quality and reduce the historical reputation of Yemeni coffee.
Coffee tree in Yemen is grown in the northern, central, southern and eastern heights across a line extending from Sa'ada to the north to the Yafie Mountains to the south and on valley slopes and the plains. The proportion of the area grown with coffee trees amounts to 2.5% of the total area of arable land and this percentage equals to about 33 thousand hectares distributed over 12 governorates. The Yemeni farmer follows one method in planting coffee trees, i.e. by sowing seeds. Presently this is followed in government farms producing 400-500 thousand trees a year. The coffee tree height usually ranges between 3 to 9 meters and begins to produce blossoms after three years and begins to produce coffee it reaches 5 years old. The good demand for the Yemeni coffee by world markets encourages coffee farms owners to improve the volume of production and increase its quantities for the purpose of exportation.
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