CentrAm coffee growers struggle to adapt to climate change

[Judi Lynn]

CentrAm coffee growers struggle to adapt to climate change
AFP
September 29, 2015, 11:49 am

Barva (Costa Rica) (AFP) - Adrian Hernandez says he can't remember a year as dry as 2015, which has nearly cost him his farm and turned him from a climate change skeptic into a true believer.

Hernandez, who runs a coffee plantation in northern Costa Rica, says he is just barely scraping by after tripling the amount of fungicide he uses, paying high irrigation bills and still harvesting just a meager crop from his desiccated plants.

"I didn't used to believe much in climate change, but now it's plain to see. Never in 23 years of running this farm have we had a winter without rain," said Hernandez at his plantation in Barva de Heredia, just north of the Costa Rican capital.

Ironically, when the drought first began, it solved one of his problems: the outbreak of coffee rust that has devastated Central American crops for the past three years -- another sign of climate change, according to experts.

More:
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/29668552/

[AgingAmerican]

1. That's one of my favorite things about visiting Costa Rica

The coffee. Even Subway has exquisite coffee in Costa Rica.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Didn't know that! Thanks for the information. n/t

[appal_jack]

3. Odd that he had to both increase fungicides & irrigate.

I've never worked with coffee, but the crops with which I do have experience (apples, vegetables, etc.) generally have more insect problems when it's dry. The need for fungicides only arises generally when conditions are wet. I wonder if the type of irrigation (probably sprinkler vs. drip) is casuing increased leaf wetness and therefore fungal issues? Drip irrigation, mulching, shade-growing, and diversified plantings are all things I hear about to help manage drought & disease on coffee farms from friends I have in Costa Rica & Belize.

K&R for the very real, on-the-ground issues that climate disruption brings to all of us.

-app