Coffee Production Systems: Evaluation of Intercropping System in Coffee Plantations in Rwanda

Abstract

Intercropping is an agricultural practice consisting in planting two or several crops in the same field simultaneously. This production system appeared to offer an excellent several advantages. While intercropping has been widely practiced since ancestral times, there was a lack of data in Rwanda on the kind of intercrops mostly used and on farmers' perception of their utility and constraints. The main objectives of this work were (1) to assess the different food crops associated with coffee trees in Rwanda and (2) to determine the perception of farmers on the role of intercropping system. That was why a field survey was carried out between August 25 th , 2014 and February 28 th , 2015 in Kamonyi District of Rwanda. Seventy-five coffee producers were randomly selected and contacted to fill a questionnaire on their practices. The correlation between yield and pesticide application were performed using R version. The significance level P was set at 0.05. Results revealed that common beans (Pheseolus vulgaris L.) and soybeans (Glycine max L.) were the most coffee intercropped plants. It appeared that intercropping was practiced to ensure the production of staple crops beside coffee. Insecticide remained the main way to control coffee pests and there was thus an important work to find alternative solutions that are often ecologically non-disruptive. Plant breeders and extension agents should investigate plants that are suitable to intercrop with coffee trees in order to enhance the conservation agriculture.

Farmers’ Perception of Coffee Agroforestry Systems in an Area Targeted for Organic Certification in Burundi

“…Studies integrating beans and other food crops in coffee plots have already been carried out in the EAC region, especially in Kenya. In Rwanda, for example, Harelimana et al (2018) found that common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and soybeans (Glycine max L.) were the most coffee intercropped plants. An experiment in Kenya has concluded that coffee yields were not significantly affected by rows of beans (Mwakha et Ngugi 1990) while another experiment in Kenya on young coffee concluded that several food crops should be profitably intercropped with coffee (Njoroge & Kimemia, 1995).…”

The determinants of common bean variety selection and diversification in Colombia

“…Common beans are usually intercropped with maize, tobacco, or coffee in Colombia ( Santalla et al, 2001 ; Iannetta et al, 2013 ; Kumar-Singh et al, 2013 ; Harelimana et al, 2018 ). Intercropping can be practiced as a way of diversifying the number of crops grown in the farm to generate more income sources.…”

Land equivalent ratio polyculture of liberica coffee (Coffea liberica)-areca nut (Areca catechu L.) and liberica coffee-tall coconut (Cocos nucifera L.)

“…Applying coffee farming with a polyculture model is one of the alternatives that can be used to improve land use and increase farmers' incomes [5]. The polyculture model of coffee farming business on other plantation crops simultaneously functions as productive shade plants.…”