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The production of coffee in El Salvador continues in red balance, affirms the Salvadoran Association of Coffee Beneficiaries and Exporters (ABECAFÉ). Until December 2020 there was 13% less in the harvest of the grain, compared to the harvest of 2019-2020.
“In an optimistic scenario, it should be the same as the previous harvest, which was one of the lowest, with 740 thousand (quintals). In a negative position we could go down, and that -13 percent remains at 31 December. December accumulated. That means that we could be losing approximately between 150 thousand and up to 200 thousand quintals “, said Ricardo Esmahan, executive director of ABECAFÉ.
If the trend continues, national production could be reduced to 500,000 quintals, Esmahan warned, during an interview on channel 33. “Being too optimistic” there would be no losses, but no more than 740,000 quintals will be produced, an amount obtained in the 2019 harvest- 2020, said Esmahan, who indicated that “the current harvest has been slow.”
The harvest began in September and until November, the Salvadoran Coffee Council (CSC) registered 60,680 quintals. The sector is in full grain shortage. The low international price of coffee, the lack of financing, technical assistance and the lack of a national project have caused the harvest to fall and the coffee forest is about to disappear, say different producers at the national level.
“There is a need for a country vision towards a strategic sector of El Salvador that is coffee growing. Coffee leaves foreign exchange, taxes, natural resources and there is a lot to support it, how is it possible that in a coffee-producing country that is sued from At the global level, is 300 thousand quintals being imported for national consumption? Policies must be restructured, “said Esmahan. The international price of a pound of coffee remains at $ 1.10, which does not cover the cost of production and that has directly affected the low harvest, said the representative of ABECAFÉ. The 2018-2019 harvest was 955,115 quintals and the registered production of 2019-2020, 740,100 quintals, 24% less. The El Salvador Coffee Association (ACAFESAL) associates these losses with the lack of maintenance of the coffee plantations, with fertilization, pruning and other agricultural activities that the plant requires for its proper development, which have not been executed due to lack of financing. .
For the 2020-2021 harvest, ACAFESAL has observed the lack of grain cutters, which would produce greater losses, achieving a harvest of 650,000 quintals, according to the union’s estimate. “Coffee growing does not go beyond two years, if the deterioration continues, if there is no financing, or attention to the sector, perhaps it will collapse. It is in the hands of the Executive to provide a public policy that allows us to continue with this crop”, said Omar Flores, president of the union.
José Amílcar Vega, president of ACAFESAL in Santa Ana, agrees that the sector is in the process of extinction. “Historically the problem has not been taken seriously, in a couple of years the sector will be extinct and that would generate a water, environmental and labor tragedy because 800 thousand direct and indirect jobs that are involved in the national coffee issue would be lost,” he said. The producer added that crime also affects the union, and although they have the support of police officers from the rural area, more are needed to provide security for cutters. “We already have times of working in the red, so as the coffee park decomposes more, production is less, there is more unemployment. At this point if a serious decision is not made, this will have to start from scratch. There has been a lack of vision and criteria. The country has not been able to evolve because national plans have been lacking to carry this forward, “said the coffee grower. For decades, local production remained between 1 million and 4 million quintals, with the arrival of rust, the 2013-2014 harvest fell to 700,025 quintals, and to date it has not exceeded those figures. If the results of the 1992-1993 harvest are compared, when El Salvador reached its maximum coffee harvest of 4, 306,200 quintals, to the last harvest, the sector reduced its production by 83%.
The coffee organizations have developed “Country Coffee Project”, a plan in which they have put their hope to reactivate the sector. The project seeks to solve the financial debt of the coffee sector, which amounts to $ 250 million, and to implement measures for the renovation of the coffee park, in addition to a policy to promote domestic consumption and marketing.
Aspects that affect national production
For years, products have reported problems.
1- International price
The international price of a pound of coffee remains at $ 1.10, says ABECAFÉ. This factor has directly affected the losses since it does not cover the cost of production.
2- Lack of financing
The debt with the banks and the embargoes is another of the issues that are affecting the national coffee production, the producers say. The current debt of the sector amounts to $ 250 million.
3- Technical assistance
ACAFESAL affirms that they require state support for the maintenance of the coffee forest and move from red balances, which have also grown due to the lack of financing for fertilization, pruning and other agricultural activities that the plant requires for its proper development.
4- Country project
The coffee organizations have put their hope in “Café Proyecto País”, a plan with which they seek to solve the sector’s financial debt, implement measures for the renewal of the coffee park, and propose a policy to promote domestic consumption and marketing.
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