WASHINGTON, DC— The Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico to the United States Congress Pedro Pierluisi announced on May 12 that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will allocate $300,000 to help Puerto Rico farmers control the spread of the agricultural pest known in English as the “coffee berry borer” and in Spanish as the “broca del café.”
These funds will be used to better understand how the coffee berry borer has become established in Puerto Rico.
With this new information, coffee farmers and the federally-funded local agricultural extension service can more effectively design and implement various approaches to contain this agricultural pest and prevent it from boring holes into coffee beans.
The holes ruin coffee crops and reduce overall income for coffee growers.
“This new federal funding is arriving at a time when the coffee industry in Puerto Rico is beginning to rebound after years of challenges, which were triggered in part by the arrival on the island in 2007 of the non-native coffee berry borer.
The latest information from local authorities reveals that Puerto Rico’s coffee industry supports 10,000 jobs. Coffee is harvested in at least 21 of the territory’s 78 municipalities, with most farms located in the central mountain region,” said Pierluisi.
“Traditionally, coffee has been harvested in Adjuntas, Lares, Utuado, Maricao, Jayuya, Yauco, Orocovis, Ciales, Las Marías, and San Sebastian.
The USDA is scheduled to release next month the latest five-year agricultural census for Puerto Rico, which will provide the most up-to-date information about the current state of all of the island’s crops, including coffee,” added the Resident Commissioner. To secure this federal funding, Pierluisi joined forces with Hawaii’s U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono and U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard. Last year, Pierluisi and Gabbard authored a successful floor amendment to the 2014 Farm Bill.
The amendment, which became law with President Obama’s signature in January, designates the coffee berry borer as a “high priority research area” for the USDA and authorizes new federal funding to combat its spread.
The USDA’s lead scientist on pest management met with Pierluisi’s office in February to discuss implementation of the new law and the funding opportunity it opened for combating the coffee berry borer.
“The coffee berry borer is a direct threat to our coffee farms in Puerto Rico. That is why I worked to raise greater federal awareness about this problem. By developing methods to effectively control its spread, we give our farmers an environment in which to comfortably plant coffee trees and to reap economic success for their work,” said Pierluisi.
The Resident Commissioner pledged that he will continue collaborating with Hawaii’s congressional delegation to secure greater federal funding to control invasive species and plant diseases affecting tropical agriculture in both Puerto Rico and Hawaii.
“At a time of fiscal constraint, and especially in light of the fact that Puerto Rico has no U.S. Senators, it makes sense for me to align my efforts where possible with the Hawaii delegation in areas of common interest,” he said.
In addition, Pierluisi continues his work to facilitate timely implementation by USDA of other provisions that he worked successfully to include in the 2014 Farm Bill that will benefit Puerto Rico’s agricultural sector, including expanded authorization for federal grants to upgrade equipment and facilities for agricultural science programs at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez and new rounds of direct federal payments to help Puerto Rico’s farmers offset shipping costs they pay in having to import agricultural feed, fertilizer, fuel, chemicals, seeds, plants, supplies, and farm equipment.
Source: press release
