Colombia’s Main Harvest Begins in Colombia, Output to Be Lower on Year
(Update: Adds estimate on 2022-2023 harvest)
Coffee Network (Bogota)- Colombia, the world's largest producer of high-quality Arabica beans, has began picking the country’s main harvest with coffee market participants predicting that the main harvest will be smaller than in the same period last year.
The main harvest weighs about 60% of the country’s total coffee output and is being collected in the eastern province of Antioquia, some areas of Huila, the country's largest coffee-producing province, and the central provinces of Risaralda, Caldas, Quindio and Valle del Cauca.
Colombia, the world’s third-largest coffee producer, produced 3.528 million bags of 60-kg in the October-December period of 2021, or a monthly average of 1.176 million bags. Colombia has failed to produce a monthly of 1.176 million bags so far 2022, and it is unlikely that it will be managed to produce such average amid torrential rains for the past 28 months that have reduced coffee production, according to analysis carried out by Coffee Network.
The highest monthly production recorded so far this year occurred in May when it yielded 1.017 million bags. Output for the remaining months have been below the 1 million bags mark.
In Antioquia, Colombia’s second-largest coffee producer, the main harvest has begun, and pickers are collecting the beans located in farms above 1,200 and 1,500 meter high.
“The bulk of the harvest was picked up last week. We have two more weeks of a good picking but for sure this harvest will come lower compared to those of last year,” Juan Alvaro Arboleda, a large coffee grower and exporter told Coffee Network.
In addition to torrential rains, there is a shortage of pickers in the Antioquia region. The same situation is being registered in the Caribbean province of Magdalena.
Antioquia used to rely on Venezuelan labour force. But some Venezuelans have opted to migrate to the US via the Darien route, crossing by foot Central America. Others have returned to Venezuela and others have resorted to criminal activities such micro traffic of drugs, analysts have said.
In addition, torrential showers knocked down beans, he added.
The new general manager of the Huila’s large coffee cooperative Cadefihuila said the harvest in 2022 will be similar to the one registered in 2021, but lower than the one reported in 2020.
In Huila, the harvest of the second half of the year, is coming 30% lower than the one reported during the first half of the year, said another source at a coffee cooperative. “There is no longer a peak of the harvest,” the source said.
Huila contributes with 18.06% of Colombia coffee output. Huila has 144,122 hectares of coffee in 100,672 farms. Huila renovated 15,191 hectares last year of which 84% were renovated with resistant. Of that total, 77.2% are resistant plantations. The average age of Huila’s coffee plantations is 5.3 years.
Influential coffee producer Pedro Echavarria said output in the coffee year 2021-2022 ended at 11.68 million bags, and he sees output in the 2022-2023 year falling even more because rainfall has been stronger. In addition, fertilization has been cut due to rising costs, while prunes have diminished to take advantage of rising coffee prices. In addition, rising inflation have deteriorated coffee growers’ capacity to reinvest in their farms. “In conclusion, production (in 2022-2023) should diminish 78%-10% to around 10.5- 11 million bags of 60-kg,” he said.
Colombia is expected to produce around 12 million bags in the calendar year 2022, down from the 12.6 million bags produced last year hit by 28 months of consecutive rainfall.
The second rainy season, which began in mid-September, has worsened, as it merged with the La Niña weather phenomenon. Weather institute Ideam said rains will not give up and will continue with an intensity greater than 20%, reaching limits of 70% in some regions of the country, like the Caribbean.
“The last days of October we will see very rainy and persistent days. November will also be with very significant intensities, especially in the Caribbean region where we can expect even 70% more intensity than normal and the departments where we hope they will be stronger are again La Guajira, Magdalena and Cesar”, said Yolanda González, director of Ideam.
By Diana Delgado
