El Nino raises 1998 coffee crop concerns<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Reuter): A dry spell, believed to have been
\ntriggered by the El Nino weather pattern, is beginning to bite on
\nIndonesian coffee farms and may disrupt the current tree
\nflowering for next year's crop, traders said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"It's very dry, much drier than is normally the case this time
\nof the year. The effects of El Nino are starting to hit. If you
\ndon't have any rains and the coffee trees are flowering, it may
\naffect production,\" a veteran coffee dealer told Reuters.<\/p>\n
Another dealer said several Indonesian coffee farms \"have got
\nemergency irrigation. But this dry spell is going to do some harm
\nsomewhere.\"<\/p>\n
El Nino, named after the Christ child by Peruvian fishermen to
\ndescribe the phenomenon of unusually warm Pacific Ocean
\ntemperatures off the coast of South America, normally peaks
\naround December and can affect weather patterns worldwide.<\/p>\n
Meteorologists have warned this year's El Nino may have
\narrived early and could match the century's worst in 1982-1983,
\nwhich blighted crops in Indonesia, Australia, the Philippines and
\nsouthern Africa after a blistering drought.<\/p>\n
Floods ravaged India, Peru and Chile, severe winter storms
\npounded California and record snowfalls piled up in the Rocky
\nMountains of North America.<\/p>\n
One trader said next year's possible fall in coffee output in
\nIndonesia, the world's third leading coffee producer behind
\nBrazil and Colombia, may be even more drastic than the 20-25
\npercent drop expected for the 1997 crop.<\/p>\n
\"The fall in Indonesia's production next season may even be
\nmore severe because of this El Nino,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is the world's largest producer of the robusta grade
\nof coffee and its harvest runs between April and September.<\/p>\n
Robusta coffee is more bitter in taste than higher grade
\narabica coffee, which is predominantly grown in Central and South
\nAmerica, but also in East Africa and India.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/el-nino-raises-1998-coffee-crop-concerns-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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