COLOMBIA – Government estimates peg crop at 9.5 million bags

MILAN – Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting of the National Committee of Coffee Growers in Bogota, the Agriculture Minister Juan Restrepo confirmed Friday that coffee production in calendar year 2010 will fall short of estimates and reach just 9.5 million bags, significantly lower than the initial forecast of 10-11 million bags made by the Federation of Coffee Growers earlier this year.
 
Above-average rainfall that affects plants’ ability to flower also may hamper the crop, the minister stated.
 
Restrepo also said that the coffee rust, a fungus that damages plants, may reduce coffee production next year adding that 50 percent of the cultivated area is affected by the plague.