20 Helvetia - El Salvador 2022

HELVETIA farm is located in
the community of El Naranjito,
municipality of Ataco about 10
km of the state capital of
Ahuachapán with a height of
1380 meters over sea level.
Helvetia Estate farm is located in the
Ilamatepeq Mountain Range, 3 miles
away from the astonishing, touristic
town called Concepcion de Ataco,
Ahuachapan in the occidental region of
El Salvador, Its topography is broken
which creates a humid, tropical and
exceptional microclimate. It has 6
natural water fountains located across
the farm, which are protected by natural
vegetation of the region. The farm is
worked all year round based on a
“protocol of works” which defines all the
works that will be made on the farm,
depending on strategic planning of the
plantation. For example we define the
work by its order, the shadow pruning
method to use ,the coffee pruning, the

wind barriers pruning period, the
renovation method defined for a 5 year
period, the fertilization formulas
depending on soil analysis, the cleaning
strategy and all of the works involved on
the farm.
Our coffee is pulped the same day that is
harvest an sundried in clay patios, they
are hand moved every 30 minutes
getting 16 moves in a day, after the
fourth day is put together for the night
rest, then moving it 16 times a day until
it gets to the normal humidity to put it in
the warehouse, more than checking its
humidity by the moisture measurement
equipment, even though we use an
eyeful check for consistent appearance. Established in 1960,s as a Coffee farm
located at 10 minutes from the touristic
town of Ataco. The farm is now owned
by Carmen Elena Calderon de Escalon
This Medium size plantation has 35.29
Hectares, and is cultivated with Coffee
Altitude: Located in the Ilamatepeq
Mountain Range at 1380mts. above sea
level.
Climate: With its high elevation in el
Salvador’s Mountains, Helvetia climate
ranges from foggy and humid during the
April to October winter season with
temperatures from 19o-33o C to dry, cool
and windy 10o - 21o C during November
to March summer season.
Varieties: Helvetia was originally
planted with Borbon which still has an
ninety percent. The other ten percent
has been planted with Pacamara.
Harvest Period: Helvetia harvesting
period goes from December through
March.
Production: Helvetia produces an
average of 75,000 pounds of green ready
to export coffee.

AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT
The agricultural system for the Coffee
Plantation is conformed of “soil, shaded
management and varietal
differentiation”.
One of the secrets of our management is
to work with the balance between the
soil and the requirements of the coffee
areas.
In the vegetative area we work with 3
important issues; “The Recepa”, which is
to regenerate the whole coffee tree,

“The New Coffee Plant”, which is to re-
plant the old unproductive tree, and

“The Agobio”, which is to bend the tree
to get new vegetative units in one tree,
we call it “to plant in the air”. This
management gives the balance of
productions through time.