Automatic irrigation system is one of the most critical factors for ensuring successful pollination and fruit setting, maintaining high yields, and keeping coffee trees healthy.
Some issues for automatic coffee irrigation solution include: the volume per irrigation session (irrigation intensity), frequency, timing, and other factors such as climate conditions and coffee variety.
In general, coffee plants prefer moist conditions. Among them, Robusta—the most widely grown variety—has better drought tolerance compared to Arabica. Robusta coffee typically requires irrigation 20–25 days after the last rainfall, with each session providing about 25mm of water, continuing through the end of January. Before flowering, a deep irrigation of 30–40mm is needed. After that, water should be supplied at 12–15mm per session until the end of February, with an irrigation cycle of 15–20 days. In particularly dry years, irrigation may need to continue through the end of March.
