In the 2013/2014 harvest, 85% of the total coffee production was exported, equivalent to 1.6 million bags, 9% less than in the previous harvest.
As expected, the impact of the plague of rust in plantations is the main factor behind the drop in exports.
A report by ICAFE notes that "... This behavior may originate from the smaller crops harvested in 2013-2014, as well as the increased volume of imported green coffee which took place in 2014.
The Ministry of Agriculture is projecting that local production of potatoes and onions will not be enough to meet domestic demand, and in the months of January and February 2015 imports will need to be made.
According to estimates arising from the latest survey conducted by the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) production of potatoes and onions in the early months of 2015 will not be sufficient to meet demand therefore analysis is being undertaken on how much will need to be imported.
The International Coffee Organization estimates that global demand will reach 175 million sacks of 60 kilos in 2020, driven by the markets of China, South Korea and Russia.
The sophistication of consumers and a growing preference for coffee in markets such as South Korea, China and Russia will be part of the main factors driving the increase in demand for the grain in the coming years.
About $80 million is the estimate for spending by coffee producers in 2014/15 crop season which is estimated at 2.08 million hundredweight.
Around $78.8 million has been allocated for harvesting the crop, most of which will be used in the payment of wages to collectors, who in some cases are reported by producers to, "... be able to expect to earn up to $1,000 per month."
Price rises are estimated due to the 25% reduction in exports from Brazil and the decline of 28% in the orange crops in the United States.
From a statement issued by the Foreign Trade Promotion Office of Costa Rica (Procomer):
In the first half of 2014, exports of Brazilian orange juice showed a significant drop. Up until May, exports totaled 375,000 tons, down 25% compared to the same period in 2013.
The state has reduced insurance premiums for crop insurance for rainfed rice to $224, $197 and $149 per hectare for areas of high, medium and low risk, respectively.
Although the premium reduction is partly due to the request made by the rice sector, the reduction is not enough according to producers.
Carlos Chaves, president of Conarroz, told Nacion.com: "...
Businessmen are complaining about a shortage of the grain in the market due to stricter phytosanitary measures designed to prevent the entry of beans with soil residues on them.
The National Chamber of Industrial Crops (CANINGRA) and the National Association of Bean Industrialists (ANIFRI) have separately warned that there could be supply shortages in the short term if the measure preventing the entry of products with soil residues coming into the country remains. In February and May the entry about 2,000 tons of red beans from Nicaragua was prevented for having breached this rule.
A 42% increase in the production of pineapples in the last four years is due to higher yields, not by an increase in planted areas.
The strong increase in the production of the product in the period 2009-2013 can be attributed to an improvement in yields on already cultivated land and not to an increase in the amount of areas planted, explain industry representatives. In the same period exports increased by 44%.
Cucumber, zucchini and lemons have been grown inside transparent molds forming shapes such as hearts or stars.
From an article by the Costa Rican Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
The Spanish company Zayintec displayed cucumbers in the form of hearts and stars during a tasting, at the stand of the Diputación Provincial de Almería.
Cucumbers with heart and star shapes, grown in Almería with biological control techniques, are not only attractive because of their original appearance, but also because of their unique agronomic and organoleptic characteristics. For the development of this new line of cucurbits, Zayintec has implemented a process of innovation and improvement on a variety of the Persian cucumber, from the Middle East.
Losses caused by the rust disease in Honduras amount to 1.8 million bags, 650,000 quintals in Guatemala, 600,000 in Nicaragua, 400,000 in El Salvador, 200,000 in Costa Rica and 60,000 in Panama.
Those are the estimates of the Central American Organization of Coffee Exporters (ORCECA), who was unwilling to speculate on how much income the region would not receive because of declining exports.
The 2012-2013 Brazilian harvest will produce more than 50 million bags each weighing 60 kilos of processed grain.
According to projections from the state run National Supply Company (Conab) coffee production in Brazil's 2012 harvest will reach 50.48 million processed bags. This is the result of the third Conab survey, released on Thursday 6 September in Brasilia.
This is the amount of grain, in the hands of 17 producers, that has not been received by the industry, therefore the Costa Rican Minister of Agriculture will assume responsibility.
CONARROZ will buy 5,649 tonnes of unprocessed rice which is currently in the hands of 17 producers, promised the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Gloria Abraham Peralta, to a group of producers in the northern part of Costa Rica with whom she met.
The Ministry will develop strategies, will intercede regarding for prices with industrial buyers and require producers to register all of their production.
The Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Xinia Chaves, promised bean producers in San Vito, Changuenas and Buenos Aires (south of Costa Rica) to help market their produce.
The official stressed the importance of the growers registering all their produce in order to get control of a hundred percent the national production of beans. In the same way, she also offered to liaise with industrialists over purchase prices.
Heavy rains in recent days have raised fears about an attack of the fungus ‘ojo de gallo’ (Mycena citricolor) in coffee plantations, especially in the highlands.
Last year in 2010 the plague affected 10% of the total sown area, about 10,000 hectares.
Ronald Peters, executive director of the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (Icafe), expressed his fears, in particular regarding the highlands.
The next harvest season could be complicated, as several agricultural sectors expect the labor supply will decrease.
The growth of construction sector in Nicaragua has been a good thing for the country but not for its neighbor Costa Rica, because the Costa Rican agricultural sector normally uses labor from Nicaragua at fruit harvesting time, especially for coffee, pineapple, melon and sugarcane.