Coffee planting is usually done during the rainy seasons, in the months of April and October, while harvesting takes place during two periods every year, with the first crop from April to June and the second from October to December.

The plant population per hectare of traditional coffee varieties with spacing of 2.74m x 2.74m is about 1,350 bushes, while the plant population of R11 spaced at 2m by 2m is 2500. The national average coffee yield is estimated at 302kg/ha, whereas the average yield in the estate sector is 556 kg/ha. 

Most of our coffee (90%) is wet processed at washing stations owned by private factories in Kampala, and Masaka Districts, whereas less than 10% of coffee is dry processed into “KASE” (dried coffee that has not undergone pulping). The parchment coffee from washing stations is graded into Parchment 1, 2, 3 and lights, ready for onward transportation to a dry mill. The Association processes members coffee as a single batch from contributions of quantities from various individual farms. In the mindst, our members can go on to access loans at zero interest to manage their responsibilities.

Coffee quality is another step within the the states of coffee processing that begins with selective picking on the farm, followed by sorting, pulping and careful sun-drying. Parchment coffee is analyzed for moisture content to ensure adequate drying before it is milled into seven primary grades of clean coffee and two grades of “KASE” in conformity with the International Coffee Standard. Mills and exporters also carry out coffee cupping in order to ensure conformity with quality standards.