But armed with new ideas and aided by sons Joao and Jose Filho, he transformed the barren slopes into a green goldmine.

He achieved a long-term yield of 31 60-kg bags per hectare, compared with a national average of under 20 kg. His coffee won prizes from the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association and fetches prices more than four times the market average.

Jose Romero sought to show that the so-called "third way" of farming - caring for the land, wildlife and workers - was sustainable.

It contrasts with large-scale, capital intensive farming on the one hand and small-scale subsistence farming on the other.

GREEN CARE

Disregard for the environment was partially responsible for the constant migration of Brazilian coffee farming from north to south and back again since the early 18th century.

Destruction of the rain forest to plant coffee farms on the mountain slopes around Rio de Janeiro resulted in a dramatic decline in rainfall and a serious water shortage in the mid-19th century.

In desperation, Emperor Dom Pedro II ordered the plantations to be dug up and the forest replanted.

In the 21st century, environmental care is even more important, Romero believes.

But unlike organic farmers, Romero believes that the soil must be fed with phosphates and other chemicals as well as humus and natural nutrients.

And due to his farm being more than 1,000 meters in altitude (3,300 feet) Romero can save on pesticides.

"Organic farmers are elitist and act like dictators forbidding the use of chemicals. They will never feed the world," the outspoken Romero said.

HILLSIDE MEASURES

Over the past four decades Romero has:

- Terraced the hillside to curb soil erosion and increase water retention.

- Reforested to protect coffee trees from wind and frost and to increase soil moisture.

- Constructed a 1,600-meter gravity-operated water pipeline to bring the harvested coffee cherries down the hillside for processing.

- Constructed plastic-roofed sheds 10 Celsius (50 Fahrenheit) warmer than outside to pre-dry coffee beans more quickly and remove risk of rain damage.

- Invested in rotary hot water driers for 2ndry drying, which completes the bean-drying process, that are more energy efficient than conventional steam driers.

- Pioneered testing of machinery to produce semi-washed, pulped natural coffee which is more consistent and higher quality than traditional sun-dried coffee. Agronomist Eduardo Sampaio of Pinhal-based P&A consulting noted that the pulped natural production process uses relatively little water - one-eighth as much as the Central American "washed" method.

- Recycled water used in coffee production, using solid waste as fertilizer.

- Installed a small coffee grinder and roaster for local sales and achieve higher earnings.

The bottom line is, "The 'third way' must be profitable otherwise I couldn't continue," Romero stressed, expressing optimism that prices will bounce up next year due to a much smaller Brazilian crop.