Growing Coffee with speaker Ramiro Lobo, San Joaquin Valley Chapter, California Rare Fruit Growers

Описание: Coffee (Coffea arabiga): A New Crop/Ornamental Plant
for Southern California

Coffee is second to oil as the most traded commodity in the world, with a value of more than $100 billion annually. An estimated 500 billion cups of coffee are drank daily and coffee provides 75 % of America’s caffeine. Coffee is without a doubt one of America’s favorite drinks and it is also becoming a popular house or backyard plant. Research conducted by the University of California in collaboration with local growers and researchers from Cal Poly Pomona has demonstrated that coffee plants adapt and produce well in Southern California micro-climates from San Luis Obispo to San Diego County. This presentation will provide an overview of coffee production industry worldwide, discuss the taxonomy and history of coffee, discuss issues and challenges to grow coffee plants in California, and discuss research efforts to date.

Ramiro E. Lobo
Small Farms and Agricultural Economics Advisor, UCCE San Diego County

Ramiro Lobo has been the Small Farm and Agricultural Economics Advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension in San Diego County since 1997. He conducts research and educational activities to support small scale agricultural producers in San Diego County. Ramiro’s work focuses primarily on topics related to agricultural business and risk management, new crop development and evaluation, new entry grower startup/education, market development through agricultural tourism and direct marketing, food safety, IPM and farm/pesticide safety education. His current research efforts have focused on the evaluation of Pitahaya or dragon fruit (Hylocereus sp.) for commercial and backyard production in California; the evaluation of water/irrigation requirements for pitahaya/dragon fruit production; evaluation of potting size and potting media for container-grown blueberries; and the evaluation of coffee varieties and production practices for ornamental/backyard and commercial production in Southern California.