The Co Ho people preserve the Moka coffee tree

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The Co Ho people preserve the Moka coffee tree

21/08/2020

The life of people in Lat commune, Lac Duong district, Lam Dong is more and more prosperous thanks to the transformation of crop structure, especially coffee. Changing life thanks to Robusta coffee, Catimor-Arabica coffee, but people here do not forget Moka coffee, which is associated with a poor past.

From Da Lat city, going more than 10 km is to Lac Duong town (district of the same name) at the foot of majestic Lang Biang mountain. With an altitude of 1950 meters above sea level, Dankia hill is an attractive tourist destination, attracting many domestic and foreign tourists.

Previously, Moka coffee trees were present throughout Lac Duong. Not only in the garden, on the field, it is easy to see them right around the house. However, finding Moka coffee trees in Lac Duong now can be said to be as difficult as finding gold in the sand because the people have cut this tree into Robusta coffee, Coffee Tea.

Searching forever, we met the old lady of Son Cuoc village, 74 years old, from the Co Ho ethnic group living at the foot of Lang Biang mountain. Hand shook a happy face but the village elder seemed skeptical why we asked about Moka coffee and it was nothing else. When I heard that I was a scientist who studies vegetables and fruits, the atmosphere of the conversation became more intimate and friendly. She explained: My husband and I took the name Son Cuoc, in fact it was easy to call, and at the same time indicated the place: Son is the mountain, Cuoc is the foot. Ethnic names are difficult to call and are often mistakenly called by Kinh people.

Regarding Moka coffee, the village elder said that this plant was previously popularly grown in Lac Duong. After liberation, production conditions became more and more complete, with electricity, water pumps, ... Moka coffee was gradually "eliminated", instead of Robusta coffee, tea coffee with higher productivity.

The elder of Son Cuoc village is a longtime Moka planter, who knows the growth and development process of the tree quite deeply. She was generous with her heart: During the Moka planting period, people were very miserable. Although Moka quality is extremely high, seeds are large, oily, special flavor, ... but the yield is much lower than other coffee. Moreover, harvesting Moka coffee is very difficult. Originally sown from seeds, over the years, the trees rose soaring, so they had to use ladders to climb like pepper trees. In return, Moka rarely fails to lose crops because of its good resilience. Especially, the drought tolerance of the plant is very high due to the deeply minced roots that absorb groundwater. Through long-term practice, Moka is suitable at an altitude of 1,500m- 2,000m, another area that is difficult to grow. Many people think jackfruit coffee is Moka, this is not strange, because in fact, only growers can accurately recognize.

Mr. KLai beside the Moka coffee plant in his field

Through research I know, in Lac Duong district there are still two communes Lat and Da Sa growing Moka coffee. The village patriarch of Son Cuoc wholeheartedly showed us the way to Lat commune to meet Mr. KLai to visit Moka town. KLai is 27 years old this year, ethnic Co Ho Chil in the village of Bonnor B. When we arrived, KLai was busy peeling and drying coffee beans. After the crop, winning the price, and his life more prosperous, he and his wife have built a solid house with motorbikes, televisions, ...

KLai's coffee garden is green and cool. Looking down from above, only see the hillside is a smooth green surface. So where does Moka stand? It is very high, right? Is old Son Cuoc wrong?

Taking me under the dense coffee canopy for a while, KLai pointed to the coffee tree. Moka: We Co Ho Chil people like it very much, even though it was "prosperous", we were poor. Why are you poor, Mrs. Son Cuoc must have told you ...

As a true technician, KLai explained: If you let it go, Moka soars, raises a red flag on the top of the tree, far up you can see. We Co Ho Chil people tried to find ways to cut the tops so that it was only as tall as other types of coffee for convenient care and collection. Many Moka trees have died from improper topping. Despite the high quality but low productivity, most of the households only keep a few trees in the garden, both keeping memories of a time, and as a solution to prevent the trend of the market when needed, to have seeds to develop.

The keeping of Moka coffee plants of the Co Ho people in Lac Duong is only spontaneous but this action shows the foresight of the people. They have been doing a very useful job: conserving the coffee plants of the Moka strain - conserving the genetic resources, conserving a very valuable genetic resource. Believe that in the future, when the economy is quite up, when the market demand is higher and stricter, the area for Moka will be expanded.

According to the Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute

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