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Coffee production down due to drought

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Norman Grant
 
Coffee farmers are also reeling from the effects of the drought on their crops.
 
President of the Jamaica Coffee Exporters Association and Managing Director of the Mavis Bank Coffee Factory, Norman Grant told Radio Jamaica News that the drought has been having a devastating impact on the production of Blue Mountain Coffee.
 
This is made worse, he explained, by the fact that earlier there was a 25 percent drop in coffee production, caused by rain damage to crops. 
 
Mr Grant elaborated that production of Blue Mountain Coffee alone is projected to be down by 20 per cent up to July this year when compared with the same period last year.
 
This constitutes 60,000 fewer boxes of coffee than last year.
 
"The trees were under stress, and the fact that we have this prolonged period of drought have compounded the issues that we have in the coffee industry," said.
 
Elaborating on the drought impact, he explained that, "you're not able to fertilize, the way you normally fertilize, because (of) the absence of rain-fed water, and this, in fact is really having a big impact on the production of coffee."
 
Mr Grant says there's a need for immediate government intervention to assist coffee farmers.
 
He's hoping that the Ministry of Agriculture will be able to provide financial support to coffee farmers, island-wide.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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