Humidity sensor for coffee
2016
Peru
Peruvian coffee farmers often lose a lot of money when selling their harvest, because the moisture content of their coffee beans deviates from the ideal sales value. A small, portable and cheap moisture meter estimates the moisture content and can help farmers sell at the right time.
Humidity plays a very important role in the sale of coffee beans. Beans that are too moist become moldy during transport, beans that are too dry lose their aroma. The ideal sales value is 12%. An experienced coffee farmer can estimate the moisture content of his beans to within 2%. Inexperienced farmers are usually way off and beans with an abnormal moisture content fetch less. Commercial moisture meters exist, but do not fit within the budget of the individual farmer and are often too large and not portable. A device that can be used in the field, fits within the budget (target price 50 USD) and works accurately, helps farmers to get more reward for their hard work. Two project students from Humasol will work with the local coffee federation to further develop this concept on both a technical and economic level. Mutual knowledge exchange is one of the priorities of this project.