As I stated in my last article, I would like to write about the Agrado experimental farm located in the QuindÃo State (The map on the right shows the tiny dark spot that is the QuindÃo State). The Agrado farm was conceived as the backbone to a new program to improve the quality of the coffee in this region.
Since coffee was established in Colombia at the beginning of the 18th century, quality has been one of the main concerns. The coffee industry in Colombia is recognized for its professionalism and high standards. However, information regarding coffee quality issues for specific farms like cup defects and physical analysis is still lacking. This is where a the Agrado Farm comes in- they provide a comprehensive program that aims to provide detailed information about the sensory and physical attributes or defects for any farm that provides a parchment sample within the QuindÃo state.
This is a huge task considering that in Colombia alone most of the coffee farms are in general between 2 to 6 acres and most of the 550,000 coffee growers families are registered as small producers. For this reason, many Agrado farm services are needed in different coffee regions of Colombia. Since February 2005 this experimental farm has analyzed around 1600 samples on average per year. The results of each sample helps as feedback data for agronomists that provide further support to growers in order to improve or fix any current problems.
For instance, if the sample shows astringency tastes as well as broken beans, the agronomist in the field instructs growers about better picking techniques. In addition, he might provide support for checking, adjusting or repairing the pulp process or machines.
The Agrado farm is located in the QuindÃo states that belong to the coffee region. This province has 45.000 Hectares of coffee that produce 65.000.000 millions Kgs of parchment in average each year. This volume of production ranks QuindÃo in eight place among the rest of the coffee producers.
Anyone that visits this small state would not only have a first hand experience with coffee farms but also amazing places such as the National Coffee Park, The Panaca Park, The Mariposario (Butterfly botanical center, pictured above), the Cocora Valley and many other tourist attractions.
There are many coffee farms that have been refurbished to serve as lodging. They provide good accommodation facilities and programs to interact with the picking and post-harvest coffee process. This type of tourism is called eco-tourism. The picture to the right shows one of these farms. If you want further information regarding those places visit one the following links: http://www.quindioturismo.com
I would like to add just few more interesting links that might help you to discover interesting places to visit nearby: