Guatemalan coffee producers face long battle against rust

The Guatemalan coffee producers seem to be in a race of challenges on the issue of coffee rust a few years ago thanks to the uncertainties on the three varieties resistant to the fungus, which spurred officials to take a stand against the replanting now.
Outbreaks of coffee leaf rust in Central America have caused even greater losses in the Guatemala production than originally thought, said the Department of Agriculture (USDA), reducing its forecast for 2013/14 at 480.000 bags for 3,42 million bags.
At this level, production would represent the lowest volume in 20 years, 19.8% less than in the previous season, which itself saw some damage in the initial phase of the outbreak of rust. The disease has become "epidemic, geographically dispersed and with greater intensity and greater impact on the plants," said USDA.
However, although many countries have responded to outbreaks of coffee leaf rust by massive stimulation programs replanting plants resistant to the fungus, producers in Guatemala are being encouraged to catch some of this replanting.
The Association of Coffee Producers of Guatemala (Anacafé) is requesting that the producers "resist the temptation to replant quickly" with rust resistant plants until it is clear that these existing varieties produce coffee with good flavor and are not susceptible to other coffee diseases.
Producers in some other countries complained of income and quality of bean of rust-resistant plants such as the Castillo type, which was cultivated in Colombia. Some Colombian producers preferred to use traditional varieties and fungicide, while others mixed plants Castillo with historical types, often planting rust-resistant plants as a buffer between other varieties.
In fact, farmers in Guatemala have had some success in limiting the damage from rust, especially in plantations at higher altitudes, with higher humidity and higher temperatures in areas below 2.500 feet, encouraging the spread of the disease.
"With adequate and appropriate manipulation, the coffee is not as devastating as has been reported. The handling of planting, in conjunction with proper nutrition and preventive spray during vegetative and flowering stages, leads to good coffee harvest. "The USDA predicts that the coffee crop in Guatemala will recover "slightly" in 2014/15 to 3.62 million bags.
Source: Café Point