Divisi
When to plant Robusta coffee in Bengo
Angola
Known here as café robusta · café-conilon
Robusta (Coffea canephora) is a hardy evergreen coffee tree of the warm lowlands — bigger, tougher and higher-yielding than highland Arabica, and far better at shrugging off leaf rust.
| Measure | Rain-fed | With irrigation |
|---|---|---|
| Fit | Favourable | |
| When to plant (establish) | 20 Sep 2026 – 10 Oct 2026 open now | 21 Jan 2026 – 1 Jan 2027 |
| Expected harvest | about 0.9 t/ha | about 3.0 t/ha |
| Bearing cycle | 270–330 days per crop once the plant is established. Planting to the first harvest takes longer than one cycle. | |
| Work it takes | 122–255 days per hectare, by hand | |
| Rain meets its needs | 94% | |
Rain-fed. These dates are worked out from each place's own rainfall, for a field watered by the season — with irrigation a window can open earlier, close later, or come round more than once a year. Check your own field under What grows, or get the Divisi app for a calendar dated to your farm.
If you only get one chance to plant, aim for around 10 Oct 2026. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.
No seasonal forecast reaches Bengo yet, so these dates follow the rains it usually gets rather than this year's.
Planting after 10 Oct 2026 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.
What decides this in Bengo
| Rain and temperature | 96% |
|---|---|
| The soil | 96% |
| The lie of the land | 45% |
For robusta coffee in Bengo, the lie of the land is the tightest of the three at 45%. You cannot flatten it, but you can farm it: plant along the contour rather than up and down, ridge or tie ridges to hold water on the slope, and expect shallower rooting than the crop would manage on flat ground.
The 2026/27 season in Bengo
| Rainy seasons | One each year — one chance to plant, so timing carries it |
|---|---|
| When the rains are expected | September 2026 to July 2027 |
| Rain in a typical year | About 1,002 mm in a typical farming district |
| Across its districts | From about 879 mm in the driest of 6 districts to about 1,341 mm in the wettest |
| This season's rain | Leaning dry — October, November and December look short of rain. Plant at the early end of the window, favour quicker and more drought-tolerant crops, and keep moisture in the soil: mulch, and weed early. |
| This season's heat | Hotter than usual — about +0.9 °C over the growing months. Heat makes the same rain do less, so a dry spell bites sooner: do not plant late, and shade or mulch what you can. |
| What that supports | enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year, warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season |
| Ground this covers | 2 kinds of ground. The season below is one typical farming district's, not a figure for the whole of this area. |
| 77% | enough rain for one full main crop; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 250 growing days · about 950 mm · October to June |
|---|---|
| 22% | enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 282 growing days · about 1,010 mm · September to July |
last updated 17 September 2026 · from all 6 areas within it
Limited water holds back about 55% of yield here.
What robusta coffee needs to grow here
| Soil it likes | sandy loam, loam or clay loam |
|---|---|
| Soil sourness (pH) | Happiest between pH 5.0 and 6.5 |
| Spacing | 275 cm between rows, 275 cm between plants |
| Feed it most with | potassium |
What it takes to grow robusta coffee in Bengo
| Planting material | About 1,350 plants per hectare |
|---|---|
| Nitrogen (N) | About 32 kg per hectare |
| Phosphate (P₂O₅) | About 6 kg per hectare |
| Potash (K₂O) | About 35 kg per hectare |
| In the shops | A basal compound at planting — Compound D, or an NPK blend — covers the phosphate and potash. A nitrogen top dressing — urea or AN — goes on once the crop is established. |
| Hand work | 122–255 days per hectare, by hand |
These are the nutrients a robusta coffee crop of that size carries off the field. What you actually apply depends on what your soil already holds — which is what a soil test, or the app's field records, tell you.
What to watch for
Grow Robusta coffee with a plan, not a guess
Everything above describes Bengo as a whole — your own soil, slope and rainfall will shift the dates. The Divisi app works them out for your field, and dates each job that follows.
Robusta coffee in nearby districts
This calendar moves
Planting windows shift with the forecast. Leave your email and we'll send what changed, and a note when planting time nears — a couple of emails a month at most.
Frequently asked questions
Will robusta coffee grow well in Bengo?
Bengo rates as favourable for robusta coffee.
When should I plant robusta coffee in Bengo?
Typically 20 Sep 2026 to 10 Oct 2026, typical season.
Is this exact for my own field?
No — these are readings taken across Bengo, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.
