The 2010/11 coffee harvest outlook on the slide

26 | 10 | 2010

Costa Rica has cut its outlook for the 2010/11 coffee harvest as a damaging fungus caused by months of heavy rains hit crops, the country’s coffee association said on Monday.

Costa Rica has cut its outlook for the 2010/11 coffee harvest as a damaging fungus caused by months of heavy rains hit crops, the country’s coffee association said on Monday.

Ronald Peters, who heads coffee organization Icafe, told Reuters the Central American country would produce 1.61 million 60-kg bags of coffee in the season, which begins this month.

The forecast is down 3.5 percent from an earlier cafe projection. The "Ojo de Gallo" fungus, or Mycena citricolor, grows on coffee tree leaves and causes them to fall, exposing the cherries to wind and rain that can make them rot.

"It is linked to humidity and cloud cover. When it is darker and there is less sunlight, the plant has a harder time fighting (the fungus)," Peters said in an interview.

Before the busy Atlantic hurricane season, which has hit Central America and Mexico hard, Costa Rica said it would produce more than 1.66 million 60-kg bags of coffee.

But even with the reduced forecast, the top-quality coffee producer expects an increase in output compared to the 2009/10 cycle, which ended in September.

Costa Rica closed the coffee harvest with 1.19 million 60-kg bags of exports, nearly 10 percent below the previous 2008/09 season, Icafe said at the beginning of this month.

Farmers have been encouraged to invest in their farms, flush with cash from high arabica prices, Peters said. Prices have hit record highs in recent months on tight global supplies, driven by lower production in top producer Colombia, and fund buying.

Source: Reuters

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