Yerba Mate production: all you need to know

09/12/2021

The process of yerba mate planting must be thoroughly controlled and delicate, in order for it to be achieved accurately. The delicacy is notoriously observed in the selective process of fruit and seed collecting, as well as in the composition of the soil and its fertility.

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Selection and preparation of the seeds

This process starts a year before the planned date for the planting of the yerbal (the yerba mate plantation). In this moment, the seed collecting starts with the harvest of the fruits that have already gone through the whole process, and have turned into a black-ish purple color. In the southern hemisphere, the best time of the year for starting is from January to April, in summertime.

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The fruit collection is manual, which gives the possibility of picking the best fruits, selecting those that are the perfect color, size, and state, without damage or lesions. After this, the preservation must be as meticulous as the previous steps, the importance of this stage is crucial in the picking of the correct seeds, since those that are damaged will not prosper. The technique consists in immersing them in water, and eliminate the ones that do not sink, together with debris, sticks, leaves, and others.

Fungicides can be added to prevent the proliferation of fungi in the crops and thus obtain the best quality yerba mate seeds.

After washing the seeds, these are stored in a plastic bag into the cooler or fridge to maintain the temperatures and its germinating power.


Preparation and seeding

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The most suitable area for planting is high ground of red land that has a near and permanent water source. If possible, the land must be smooth and on a slope. The soil preparation can be made using a shovel or by plowing the ground and adding a good quality compost always helps.

The sowing takes place between the months of March to May, by distributing the seeds on the surface of the seedlings in quantities of 250 to 500 grams (8.8 to 17.6 oz) of seeds per square meter and covering it with a thin layer of soil. Finally, a layer of decomposed yerba sticks or pine needles is added in order to ensure constant humidity. There are three stages to this sowing system:


1. Greenhouse stage

The fist stage consists on the planting of the yerba seeds inside a greenhouse structure. This allows that the favorable and required conditions are met, such as a controlled humidity, sunlight, and temperature. This structure can be simply built using wood poles, wire and nails, not much more than this is needed.


2. Adaptive stage

In this phase, the planting must adapt gradually to natural climate conditions, since the environment is less controlled than the previous stage. The watering continues to be controlled, but the plants are more exposed to sunlight, though not completely.

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3. Definitive planting stage

This stage does not characterize by programmed irrigation, in fact, it is carried out according to the needs of the seedlings. Here, less controls are required regarding sunlight and watering methods, but night frosts can still be damaging to the crop.


Plating

In Argentina, this crop is mostly concentrated in the humid subtropical region, which contemplates the provinces of Misiones and Corrientes' northeastern region. In this area, it rains around 1800 milliliters per year (around 70 lb), and average temperatures are of 21º Celsius or 70º Fahrenheit.

Suitable soils for the yerba mate crop are red, deep, well drained and fertile. The most fertile layers of the soil are the most superficial ones, so it is vital to protect them, avoiding erosion by excess water or rains, and loss of fertility by insulation.

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When the seeds have germinated into a considerable-sized plant, they are transferred to a nursery in order to maintain the quality of the seedlings, in an environment where they can not be under stress or under the effect of any factor that could affect their normal development and growth. If this is the case and the seedlings are transplanted to pots, the implantation period extends from April to September. When they are nos transferred into pots, the period is reduced to June and July.

After removing the seedling from the polyethylene pot, it is placed in the center of the dug hole where it is to be placed or in the middle of the sub-soiled line and the soil is compacted around it. Once they have been planted, it is important that they are protected. Usually, "ponchos" are used, structures made of hay, resinous pine, eucalyptus, specifically position so that they do not get insulated by the sun.


Harvest

The last and most important step in the yerba production. The harvest season begins in April/May and extends up until October. The branches that have a higher amount of leaves are carefully cut using scissors or saws.

As explained, the whole process of the yerba mate sowing is thoroughly controlled, but this continues intensively even after the harvest. The soil must be perfectly maintained during the entirety of the year so that the next production turns out as ideal as the previous one. 



References

https://www.yerbamateargentina...