Renewal key to reviving coffee sector, says expert

SantoDomingo.- A coffee expert from Colombia says that renewal and creation of varietiesthat are resistant to the Roya disease is the ideal way to revive the country’scoffee crop, until a totally new coffee plantation is achieved.

AgronomistCarlos Mario Jaramillo from the National Coffee Growers Federation of Colombia saidthat the strategy that needs to be followed is one of renovation, and thelonger this is delayed, the worse the situation will become.

Headded that the policy being applied by the Dominican Coffee Council (CODOCAFE) forrecovering the coffee crop is the most appropriate and is essential for thecountry as it has great potential for coffee production.

Jaramillowas speaking during a tour of several plantations and discussions with thecountry’s coffee farmers and authorities from the sector.

Meanwhile,the CODOCAFE executive director, engineer José Fermín Núñez said that thisevent was organized in order to help producers make the best investmentdecisions for choosing the varieties for renewing the plantations.

Jaramillosaid that the sector and the coffee farmers appeared to be well disposed towardfinding and making changes, but in order to achieve these changes the solutionis to achieve total renewal of these plantations.

Headded that the most viable, cost-effective and easy to adopt alternative forthe producers is the use of Roya-resistant varieties.

EngineerCarlos Mario Jaramillo is the National Coordinator of the Special Coffee Program aswell as leading Rural Development Projects in Colombia’s Coffee Growing Areas.