Indonesian coffee output down 24% due to El Nino<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A prolonged dry spell, believed to have been
\ntriggered by the El Nino weather phenomenon, is blamed for a 24
\npercent drop in the country's coffee output for the production
\nyear ending on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n
The director of Jember, East Java-based Indonesian Coffee and
\nCocoa Research Center, Oskari Atmawinata, said on Tuesday that
\nlocal production fell to 5.7 million 60-kilogram bags (342,000
\nmetric tons) from the usual annual output of 450,000 tons.<\/p>\n
It was due to the \"severe drought in June-December period last
\nyear which has damaged coffee crops\", Antara news agency quoted
\nhim as saying on the sidelines of a symposium on coffee in
\nSurabaya, East Java.<\/p>\n
Excessive rainfall during the June-November flowering period
\ndamaged plants and young pods while a dry spell from January to
\nMarch damaged the developing seeds, he said.<\/p>\n
El Nino is caused by a warming of the Pacific Ocean which
\ninteracts with other weather systems and typically produces freak
\nweather patterns, such as drought in some areas and heavier than
\nnormal rainfall in others.<\/p>\n
The phenomenon, which occurs every two to seven years, has
\nunleashed natural disasters around the world, damaging crops for
\ntwo successive years and causing turmoil on world commodities
\nmarkets.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is the world's third largest coffee producer after
\nBrazil and Colombia. Ninety percent of the country's production
\nis robusta and the remainder arabica.<\/p>\n
The country is the world's largest producer of robusta, whose
\nharvest is between April and September, and provides 24 percent
\nof global robusta production. Robusta is extensively used in the
\ninstant coffee industry.<\/p>\n
The Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters (AICE) has said
\nthe country's coffee exports dropped by 18.69 percent to 309,000
\nmetric tons worth US$550 million in the 1997\/1998 coffee year --
\ncompared to 380,000 tons and $675 million the previous coffee
\nyear -- due to El Nino.<\/p>\n
AICE's executive secretary Noer Madjid also predicted the
\ncountry's coffee output would continue to decline this year by a
\nfurther 30 percent because of the La Nia reverse weather pattern
\nwhich would cause higher rainfall than normal.<\/p>\n
He said heavy rains had affected coffee crops in major
\nproducing areas such as South Sumatra, Lampung and Bengkulu,
\nwhich together account for about 65 percent of the country's
\nproduction.<\/p>\n
Coffee is the third largest foreign exchange earner among
\nplantation commodities after rubber and palm oil, contributing
\nabout 22 percent of the agricultural export value.<\/p>\n
Oskari said tight supplies on Indonesian coffee had provided
\nVietnamese coffee, Indonesia's main rival, a boost in demand.<\/p>\n
He said that Vietnam's coffee production in 1997\/1998 coffee
\nyear reached 5.7 million bags, equal to Indonesia's coffee
\nproduction.<\/p>\n
\"In 1995\/1996 they produced only 4 million bags, and look at
\nthem now,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Oskari said Indonesia was expected to produce 10
\nmillion bags of robusta coffee and 3 million bags of arabica
\ncoffee in 2005 to meet the global demand of 40 million bags and
\n80 million bags of robusta and arabica respectively.<\/p>\n
\"It is a challenge and opportunity for the Indonesian coffee
\ncommunity,\" he said. (gis)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesian-coffee-output-down-24-due-to-el-nino-1447893297",
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