Organic Coffee Farming Understood: How Ants Keep Pests in Check
Researchers studying an organic coffee farm in Mexico may have stumbled on a clue explaining how organic and integrated farming techniques work so well—and keep pests under control naturally.
On the coffee farm, the key players that keep the ecosystem thriving are a few ant species, coffee pests, and beetles. Their interactions and interdependence on each other are essential to the health of the farm in subtle ways that can be—and have been—easily overlooked.
Intricate relationships Read the study summary for the full explanation, but it essentially works like this:
Ants live in about three percent of shade trees on the farm, but only in clusters of trees, and not scattered about randomly. Ants
Tags: Keep Pests, Organic Coffee, Pests Posted in