GAP
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
Shwe Yi Mon cultivates Arabica varieties including Kenya SL 34 and SL 28 on 80 acres with 81,000 coffee trees and 13,000 shade trees.
We follow Myanmar’s Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and in 2019, became a GAP certified coffee grower.
Our coffee is grown under shade trees of mango, oak, macadamia, avocado, and jackfruit. We sell these fruits as extra income. We also grow seasonal cash crops like sesame seeds, sunflower, strawberry, cabbage, rice, and canola.
Shade trees help our cherries to mature properly and preserve the ecosystem and biodiversity. We only use bio fertilizer and cow manure, no chemicals.
In 2019, we launched a drip irrigation system on our farm thanks to a grant of 80% support from the Responsible Business Fund (RBF) from Denmark.
They also helped us to build three units of solar dryer domes and metal raised beds to dry out cherries.
We now have drip irrigation, systematic harvesting, and dry processing under the solar dome on Shwe Yi Mon Coffee Farm. These concerted efforts combine to develop unique coffee that consistently cups at 84-86.
Our coffee profile is fruity, strawberry, candy, and floral, with a sugar cane and honey taste, sharp acidity, full body, and long aftertaste of red fruits. It is smooth, beautifully rounded and balanced.
We only pick red cherries by hand and set aside and separately process all floating and over-ripe fruits.
Currently, we produce 8 tons of green beans per season. We plan to extend our plantation to the fullest area of 200 acres in 2025 to produce over 20 tons.
Coffee Nursery
With a farm estate like Shwe Yi Mon, we need many nurseries to grow and sustain strong and healthy coffee plantations. We achieve this by:
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using ripe seeds from healthy plants on the farm to ensure varieties
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following advice from our farm coffee agronomist
Our coffee nursery site has more than 50,000 seedlings for extension projects and replanting unproductive coffee. The seedlings are Kenya SL 34 and SL 28 varieties.
We plan to have 100,000 coffee seedlings by 2025 as an extension project.
We prepared more than 50,000 seedlings in 2021–22 as we extended to over 100 acres of coffee and macadamia plants. We started growing macadamia in 2010. It is a good cash crop, suitable for our location and has strong market potential.
We chose Kenya SL 34 and SL 28 varieties because they are popular among Japanese buyers and offer high yield, disease resistance, and superb cup quality. We originally got these variety seeds from the government-run Pyin Oo Lwin Coffee Research, Information, Extension and Training Centre.
Now, we use our own seeds from our farm, and no longer need to rely on others.
Nursery Management
We only pick coffee cherries from healthy plants and sow the seeds immediately after picking. Under control and supervision of our specialist, our seedlings always look healthy.
We water them daily in the early morning with a sprinkler and use shade nets to protect them from direct sun and the winter cold.
We manure our seedlings once every two months with urea dissolved in water or a supernatant solution of fermented cow dung slurry.
Our nursery is always kept clean and free from weeds and fallen leaves. We follow timely protection measures against nursery pets and diseases.