leaf rust kills organic coffee crops

Leaf Rust Kills Organic Coffee Crops

By www.buyorganiccoffee.org

buyorganiccoffee.org

buyorganiccoffee.org

A seemingly eternal threat to growing healthy organic coffee is a fungus that is

native to the tropics where coffee is grown.

http://buyorganiccoffee.org/799/leaf-rust-kills-organic-coffee-crops/

http://buyorganiccoffee.org/121/healthy-organic-coffee/

http://buyorganiccoffee.org/121/healthy-organic-coffee/












Leaf rust attacks coffee crops and leaf rust kills organic

coffee crops.













If an organic grower is unable to treat the problem with

non-chemical means he risks losing his crop and his

livelihood.













The fungus’ proper name is Hemileia vastatrix.













When it is not controlled the disease kills coffee plants and

reduces coffee growers to poverty.













It starts as an orange to yellow somewhat powdery

discoloration on the underside of the leave of the coffee

plant.













It begins as spots, less than a millimeter in diameter and

grows to millimeters diameter with a pale yellow

discoloration.













It is known among Latin American coffee growers as “roya.” The issue for organic













growers is that quarantine and destruction of individual

plants is not always effective.













Thus a grower who has put the time, effort, and money into getting organic coffee

certification


http://buyorganiccoffee.org/344/organic-coffee-certification/

http://buyorganiccoffee.org/344/organic-coffee-certification/












may lose everything unless he turns his back on organic

practices and spays the heck out of his coffee plants.













Then he can only sell his produce at regular coffee prices and not the higher













prices that good quality organic coffee commands.













If he loses his crop he needs to replant, probably after spraying the soil, and wait













several years for new coffee plants to reach maturity.













Why Not Just Spray?













Before organic coffee became popular growers use a copper based chemical to retard the

growth of coffee leaf rust.













Then they switched to other synthetic fungicides.













One of the older complaints, before folks worried about

being poisoned by chemicals, was the













copper treatment and others affected taste and produced a product that did not sell well nor command a good price.













As leaf rust kills organic coffee crops today this is still an

issue.













A grower could decide to treat with a modern fungicide and

save his coffee crop.













He would then try to sell his coffee beans and hope that













the treatment did not devalue his product compared to

regular coffee.













Then he would need to resume organic farming

practices and wait the usual three years until he













is certified to have avoided non-organic techniques long enough to be certified again.













Follow the Money













As leaf rust kills organic coffee crops the issue, as always, is

money.













Starbucks, McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, and many others have gotten into organic coffee in a

big way.













This movement has been good for the small grower and good for the environment and good for coffee drinkers who get a

better cup of coffee.













It has always been about pressure from consumers who

want to avoid impurities in their coffee and who want to

protect the environment.













What will these buyers do if their hand-picked growers need to spray to stay alive?













Will they create a middle category of treated coffee?













Growers will not stay with the organic movement if they

constantly need to recertify













and do not get the rewards of better pay for their coffee

each and every year.













At some point buyers and consumers may need to adopt the practical approaches that













farmers have used for years and accept spraying when it is necessary to keep the sources

of good coffee alive.













leaf rust kills organic coffee crops

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