The general manager of the National Federation of Coffee Growers, Germán Bahamón, told LA NACIÓN what the pilot that will be implemented in Huila to comply with the Green Pact of the European Union is about. He revealed how production is, the biggest concerns and projections of the sector during 2024.
CATHERINE MANCHOLA
Today the general manager of the National Federation of Coffee Growers, Germán Bahamón will be in Neiva and will meet with Governor Rodrigo Villalba Mosquera, within the framework of a pilot that will be launched in Huila, as part of the actions to comply with the Green Pact of the European Union, where ambassador Gilles Bertrand will also be present.
The man from Huila visited the newspaper LA NACIÓN yesterday and delivered news for the country’s coffee growers.
Manager, what is the reason for this visit to Huila?
The reason is that we have with the National Government and the Government of Huila the task of ensuring that we are going to comply with the strategy that the European economic community has designed, so that nine productive chains can be certified against deforestation: production without deforestation .
So, together with the European economic community and Huila, we are going to accompany the Colombian coffee growers and we will start with a pilot in the department, generating instruments to comply with the requirements demanded by the Green Pact of zero deforestation, which is the norm.
We want to generate a model with legal due diligence so that the Federation can contribute with our coffee information system (SICA), where we have registered all the coffee growers’ farms in Colombia, to identify coffee planting in Huila, even from the date in which it was carried out, and comply with the standard. We are also going to generate the development of export guides that establish this check. And with this, the Federation also fulfills the mandate of coffee growers to allow them to better market their coffee.
Is any type of monetary investment required for this purpose?
In recent years we have been making an investment to have a robust, reliable coffee information system that on this occasion allows us to show that Colombia is at the forefront; Not all countries have an information system like this or a Federation. And today we are pleased to say that we are going to start this pilot in Huila, the first coffee producer in the country, to give guarantees to the European economic community that we have due diligence and can generate all the export guides, certifying them that the coffee that occurs in the department does not have to do with deforestation.
How to explain these new requirements to a farmer on a small farm, who is not directly exporting?
The most important thing, and thank you for that question, is that no one has to do anything different from what they have always done and that is grow the best coffee in Colombia. We as a Federation and with the extension service of the Huila Committee plus SICA, are the ones who are going to do all that due diligence on the origin of each of the coffees produced on the farms in the department, and we will generate the development of the guides from exportation.
How much coffee is being exported to the European Union?
During last year, the country’s total exports to the world were 10,579,302 60-kilogram bags, of which, 2,506,855 60-kilogram bags went to the European Union, that is, 24%. The United States, Japan and the European economic community are the three most important markets for Colombian coffee.
On the other hand, how challenging is climate variability being for the sector?
It is very important to understand that starting in 2009 we began an important process in Colombia, of making a change to varieties resistant to these phenomena that are climate change and also to rust and borer borer. After having had 36 months of inclement rain, the Colombian coffee park has resisted the onslaught of rust. And now, faced with the El Niño phenomenon, the coffee tree is being revitalized. The important thing is that the drought is not prolonged, but rather that it generates water stress that also allows the plant, through photosynthesis, to prepare for a good harvest. What we are seeing in Colombia at this moment are blooms that we have not seen since 2015 and allow us to visualize that there will be a better harvest than that of 2023, when it was already a breaking point that we began to grow again in production in Colombia.
In that sense, what are the projections for 2024?
2024 suggests that there will be more significant productivity per hectare. The harvest forecast after having toured three thousand farms in the country, shows us that in the first semester we could be achieving 5.8 million bags of coffee, which is much higher than the 5 million 20 thousand in the same period of the year. past.
The departments in which better production will be seen are Tolima, Cauca, Nariño and Huila, also some of Quindío, where the first semester harvest will be.
Manager, does this mean that the El Niño phenomenon has not set off alarm bells in the sector at this time?
Yes, we have the alarms on, very much on, because what interests us is that there is not going to be a continuation of the drought. We are very grateful to the climate for the rains that have occurred in February, we were very worried and asking Ideam what the weather forecast could be in February and March, I sat down with the director and we were able to review the forecasts, she On January 31, he said that some rain was coming in February and it was correct, that has allowed us to have a little peace of mind.
But we are also concerned that according to Ideam, a little drought could return in March, however, according to them, starting in April the climate normalizes; If it occurs, there would not be a prolonged drought, that will allow the fruit to fill, it would be a blessing for coffee growers and production would grow by 17% in Colombia.
In terms of harvest, how did Huila fare in production last year?
Last year Colombia grew again and achieved an annual production of 11.35 million bags, of that total, 19.08% was from Huila, once again achieving first place, that can be equivalent to around 2 million 150 thousand bags. It is a department that has the vast majority of its municipalities as producers.
Another issue that worries coffee growers is extortion and you said that it was “the new rust”, what commitment have the authorities assumed in the face of this problem?
And I stand by what I said, because I expressed it even to the Minister of Defense and the military leadership. In the department of Huila we are suffering extortion in a way that was not seen decades ago and today this is the new rust, that is why we have been working in an articulated way with the National Trade Council to show the evidence of each of the chains. of agricultural production of the country, also of other industries so that the minister has first-hand and with significant frequency all the information about what is happening. We have committed that also from a regional point of view we will be in close contact with the IX Brigade and the Police to provide information in a timely manner.
And also tell our coffee growers to report, it is the only way for the Army and the Police to accompany them. We are very concerned with the issue of extortion, because although it is true, the coffee grower’s concern today is the price of coffee, knowing that we have such a high level of profitability, we do not want criminals to take away the little bit of produce that we have. have.
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