It just so happens that women have a neutral PH level (a naturally occurring acid on human skin). This means that a woman’s touch will not harm the young plant.
Another danger to the plant is an insect that resembles the Japanese beetle. This insect flies onto the coffee seed, punctures tiny holes in it, and lays its eggs inside. The eggs then feed on the inside of the cherry. If this happens, the coffee is considered “contaminated,” but the coffee can still be sold -- just at a lower price -- as it can still be consumed, although the tiny eggs give it an extra bit of protein. (Gross!) To control the Japanese beetle problem, the finca sets out soda bottle traps with a certain chemical that attracts them. The beetles are caught in a mixture of water and soap where they sink and drown. This is simply a better solution than using pesticide on the coffee plants.
One of the things that surprised me the most about the coffee plant is its sensitivity to the climate! The shade trees protect the coffee from sunlight or wind. If a coffee plant is left out too long in the heat, the seeds dry up. A dry batch of coffee is also sold at a lower price, sometimes as ground up “instant coffee.” Once workers pick the coffee cherries off of the plant, these workers have less than one day to process the crop in the factory, otherwise it rots. They dry the seeds and later do a controlled fermentation. But even this has some danger because the bacteria in the tanks have to be washed with every batch. They use a lime solution to kill the bacteria.
