When to plant Robusta coffee in Bougouni

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Robusta coffee

These figures also cover Kadiana, Kolondieba and Ouada-Djallé, where the engine returns the same answer.

Mali

Known here as café robusta

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.

Robusta coffee in Bougouni, rain-fed and with irrigation
Fit Favourable
When to plant (establish) 21 Jan 2026 – 1 Jan 2027 open now
Expected harvest about 2.5 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-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 1 Jan 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.

This season's rainfall outlook for Bougouni is close to normal, so these dates match the pattern the area usually follows.

Planting after 1 Jan 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.

What decides this in Bougouni

Rain and temperature 96%
The soil 76%
The lie of the land 88%

For robusta coffee in Bougouni, the soil is the tightest of the three at 76%. This is the one you can actually move. Lime raises a sour soil, manure and compost lift what it holds, and both work within a season or two — money spent here changes the answer.

The 2027 season in Bougouni

Rainy seasonsOne each year — one chance to plant, so timing carries it
When the rains are expectedMay 2027 to October 2027
Rain in a typical yearAbout 896 mm in a typical farming district
Across its districtsFrom about 805 mm in the driest of 10 districts to about 1,082 mm in the wettest
This season's rainRain close to usual — plan around about 896 mm falling roughly when it always does
This season's heatHotter than usual — about +1.5 °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 supportsenough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it, warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season
Ground this covers2 kinds of ground. The season below is one typical farming district's, not a figure for the whole of this area.
Agro-ecological zones covering this area
56% enough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 168 growing days · about 930 mm · May to October
43% enough rain for one full main crop; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 213 growing days · about 1,080 mm · April to November

last updated 30 September 2026 · from all 10 areas within it

Frost and pest pressure hold back about 15% 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 Bougouni

Planting materialAbout 1,350 plants per hectare
Nitrogen (N)About 88 kg per hectare
Phosphate (P₂O₅)About 18 kg per hectare
Potash (K₂O)About 98 kg per hectare
In the shopsA 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 work122–255 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

Pest/disease risk — manageable

Grow Robusta coffee with a plan, not a guess

Everything above describes Bougouni 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.

Or check your field first

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 Bougouni?

Bougouni rates as favourable for robusta coffee.

When should I plant robusta coffee in Bougouni?

Typically 21 Jan 2026 to 1 Jan 2027, forecast-adjusted.

Is this exact for my own field?

No — these are readings taken across Bougouni, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.

Also worth considering in Bougouni

Keep going

Timing is one question. What the crop needs at every stage, what attacks it and where to sell it are the others.