Forest Fires Threaten Coffee Plantations in Colombia, Droughts Damage Plants

Forest Fires Threaten Coffee Plantations in Colombia, Droughts Damage Plants

Bogota (Coffee Network) - Forest fires across Colombia are threatening coffee plantations with strong droughts already affecting the quality of coffee produced in this Andean country as soil is not getting enough water to nourish coffee trees.

Colombia has been experiencing intense drought since January with El Nino disturbances producing high temperatures. The El Nino weather pattern is expected to last until April, the IDEAM government weather office says. But February is expected to be the hottest month, Ideam added.
Out of the 1,100 municipalities that the country has, 977 municipalities are on red alert of potential forest fires. This number is almost twice as much as the 495 municipalities were on red alert, reported early this week. The red alert comes as the municipalities have reported for five consecutive days temperatures above the average, Ideam said.

Coffee-producing towns like Neiva, the capital of Huila, the largest-producing province, recorded 39.2 Celsius yesterday, up from the historic average of 38.6 for January.

Other coffee-producing towns such as Villa Hermosa in Tolima, the third-largest producing province, recorded 25.6 Celsius yesterday, up from the January average of 24.6 Celsius.

 Colombia's dry season usually comes in the first quarter, but so far 2024 has been hotter than usual due to El Nino.

Mauricio Rivera, general manager of the Huila coffee cooperative Coocentral, said coffee produced below 1,400 meters are wither with quality problems as they have been hit by broca.

“The conditions are already beginning to be critical in regions in the dry part of the Huila, especially the north of Huila, near the  Tatacao Desert,” he said.

High temperatures are prompting the spread of broca infestations, which eats coffee kernels and hurts bean quality, in key municipalities in Huila and Antioquia, the country’s largest producing provinces, according to a survey carried out by Coffee Network.

A video footage sent by a coffee grower shows dry up coffee plantations in the municipality of Saladoblanco in southern Huila. Rivera believes that if rainfall does not come soon, thousands of coffee-hectares in Huila will look the same.

In addition, a forest fire was reported in the town of Tambo in Cauca destroying coffee plantations, according to a video footage. In the Caribbean province of Cesar, firefighters are trying to control a fire in the coffee-producing town of Pueblo Bello. It is unknown if the plantations were destroyed.

In Antioquia, coffee grower Juan Alvaro Arboleda said 40% of the mitaca in the province is getting damaged by extreme weather. No fires are close by the plantations.

The record and freezing temperatures are also impacting the highlands of Cundiboyacense and Santander, with 99 municipalities on alert.

“We are in a context of climate crisis with significant increases in temperature and predictions show that regardless of whether the rainy season arrives, temperatures in the national territory will continue to increase,” said the director of Ideam.

In addition, more than 20 municipalities in the Pacific face risks of landslides, while basins such as the Magdalena River and the Cauca River present low level of rivers, causing shortages in several places.

 Forest fires

Colombia’s president declared a state of emergency as several forest fires burned wide swaths of the country and left the capital choking on smoke during record temperatures linked with the El Nino weather phenomenon.

Colombia has extinguished hundreds of fires this month, but 31 continue to burn, according to data from the National Disaster Risk Management Unit (UNGRD) on Friday.

In the departments of Santander, more than 400 hectares of paramo have been consumed by the fires.

Countries like the US, Canada, Peru and Chile have committed to help the nation suffocate the fires.

By Diana Delgado