MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Ongoing problems for Mexican coffee producers have resulted in the worst year ever for the industry with total output during the 2015-2016 harvest season of just over 2 million 69-kilogram sacks.
During their heyday some 20 years ago, cafetaleros produced around 6.5 million sacks of coffee beans.
A former president of the National Coffee Producers’ Union, part of the National Farm Confederation (CNC), explained that the damage caused by the roya fungus, also known as coffee leaf rust, coupled with a late reaction by the federal government, are among the factors having a negative influence on production.
Gabriel Barreda Nader told the newspaper Milenio that climate change, low investment in the sector, insecurity and the poor training of producers are all determining factors.
Still, the lasting effects of the roya fungus are hard to overcome, particularly because of the indifference shown by the federal government, he continued.
“Roya has attacked in several countries but within two years they had countered its effects; in Mexico there was no response, especially at its onset.”
Barreda recalled that at one point Mexico was the fourth largest coffee producer in the world. Today, he estimated, the country might be in ninth place.
He said illegal entry of coffee beans from Guatemala doesn’t help. “Customs officials must take action on the matter.”
Barreda was positive about the federal Agriculture Secretariat’s implementation of a rescue program last year, which included the distribution of roya-resistant coffee plants and the training of cafetaleros.
“If all goes well, we’ll probably have a recovery by 2019,” he stated.
National Coffee Producers’ Union president José Julio Espinoza Morales reported the first signs of recovery were seen in some areas last season.
“During the last harvest there was some recovery in some areas of different states, with passable production, such as in the state of Veracruz, where plantations flourished and some yielded good production,” he told Milenio.
“The increase [in production] will be gradual and in relation to the availability of roya-resistant plants. For that, we need more support from the government, for the recuperation as soon as possible all the coffee plantations,” he added.
Most of Mexican coffee — about 85% — is produced in the southeastern states of Chiapas, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Puebla and Guerrero.
