Concept

There are many ways to control rainwater in order to reduce run-off and encourage infiltration. The simplest is to create depressions or undulations within the field itself so that the water is held temporarily (from minutes to hours) to give the water time to infiltrate into the soil where it helps to recharge moisture in the lower horizons of the soil which can subsequently be taken up by the plants. Mostly these basins have been constructed around the coffee stem itself, so that the tree grows in a basin. The disadvantage of this is that the basins tend to fill up with transported soil after rain and have to be re-excavated, which causes damage to feeder roots. In the present case, the micro-basins are made between the coffee rows to minimize the damage to coffee roots.