Farm survey and soil sampling of coffee plantation
Experimental site and description area The Barahona Province has an extension of 1,639 km2. It is located between latitudes 18°40' and 18°12'N and longitudes 71° 17' and 71°21' W, southwest of the Dominican Republic. The area has an altitude between 700 and 1200 m.a.s.l, has a temperature annual range of 17 and 22 °C with an annual average of 26 °C1 The annual rainfall varies between 655 and 2296 mm (Pérez et al, 2002). The coffee cultivated area in the Barahona Province is 11,082 ha with about 3,565 participating farmers (CODOCAFE, 2002). Most of the area (98.6% or 30,710 ha) is in arabica cofee (C. arabica), whith the remainder (1790 ha) is planted to robusta coffee (C. canephora).