Although several companies have been affected by the measures implemented by governments in the context of the Covid-19 crisis, Costa Rican exports of coffee, pineapple and bananas have so far not faced difficulties with logistics.
Directors of the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafé) indicated that so far there have been no problems with the availability of containers and that sales abroad are proceeding normally.
In Costa Rica, the business sector is opposed to a proposed law that would give Icafé the power to impose requirements and controls on the processes of supplying the raw material necessary for grain production.
For the 2017-2018 season, imported coffee consumed in the country represented 18% of demand, but for the 2018-2019 cycle that proportion increased to 45%, being Nicaragua and Honduras the main suppliers of the grain.
According to statistics from the General Directorate of Customs and compiled by the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafe), for the 2018-2019 cycle in the Costa Rican market were consumed about 526 thousand bags of 46 kilos of coffee, of which 292 thousand were of national production and 234 thousand were purchased abroad.
Partly explained by the exhaustion of soils dedicated to the cultivation of grain, in Costa Rica the 2018-2019 harvest was 1.7 million bags, one of the lowest records of recent decades.
Data from the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafé) specify that between the 2017-2018 season and 2018-2019, production in the country decreased by 276,970 bags of 46 kilograms, falling from 1,991,755 to 1,714,785 bags.
In Costa Rica, the coffee sector expects that for the 2018-2019 harvest will be produced about 1.8 million quintals, a volume that would be 11% lower than that recorded in the 2017-2018 season.
According to forecasts by the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (Icafé), between the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 harvests, the country's production will fall from 2 million to 1.8 million quintals, a decline that would be caused by the cyclical behavior of plants and the aging of coffee plantations.
Between the 2011-2012 and 2016-2017 harvests, the difference between the average price per quintal of the country's exports and the international market price of grain has more than doubled, from $25 to $54.
According to Investing.com data and figures provided by the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafe), during coffee year 2011-2012 the average value of a 46 kg bag of coffee on the New York Market was $198.12 and the average price of Costa Rican exports was $222.76, reflecting a difference of $24.64.
Factors such as the international price and a reduction in productivity, explain the 60% drop in production of this grain in Costa Rica 's Central Valley over the last 17 years, ceding the land space to real estate development.
Areas in the Central Valley that had previously been considered the best for coffee growing, have been giving way in recent years to new constructions, both residential and commercial, mainly east of San José.
In Costa Rica, the decree that authorizes the cultivation of coffee of the robusta variety in low altitude areas is now in force.
The decree was published on May 16 in the newspaper La Gaceta, and will be controlled by the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafé), to "... avoid a mixture of crops in the areas, avoid the joint processing of the two varieties and determine through tests which types of Robusta are best adapted to the country."
In Costa Rica, a new bill has been presented to grant resources at a preferential rate to producers, aimed particularly at the smaller ones.
According to the bill, which received a positive ruling in committee and now must go to the Plenary, the fund will be financed by a contribution of 5% from the liquid surplus of the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafé), resources from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and funds recovered from the Trust Fund for Coffee Producers Affected by Rust and the Coffee Plantation Renewal Plan.
In Costa Rica, climatic conditions have favored the development of rust in areas of early maturation, where 40% of the almost 30 thousand hectares planted are affected.
For the moment, the presence of this outbreak by epitifia is located in the coffee regions known as early maturing zones, that is to say, Pérez Zeledón, Turrialba and Coto Brus.Already, great efforts are being made to prevent this fungus from spreading to other coffee growing areas of the country.
In Costa Rica, a decree is being prepared to eliminate the ban that has been in effect since 1988 and to re-authorize planting of the robusta variety in some areas of the country.
The results obtained in tests carried out in 2016 and the conclusion that there is no longer a real technical justification for prohibiting the sowing of this variety have led the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock to review the conditions and evaluate resumption of planting in some areas of the country.
In Costa Rica, twelve farms are now using experimental technology to reduce the cost of weed control from approximately $250 per hectare to $50.
Through the use of small tractors or modified motorcycles which have arms attached to them to perform fumigation, atomization, weed control and fertilization tasks at an early stage, Costa Rica is managing to reduce labor costs in coffee plantations.For example, "... it is estimated that the time it takes to atomize one hectare, for example, can be reduced from the current day and a half to barely an hour."
With the aim of replacing imports and reviving areas with low productive development a proposal has been made to lift the ban which has been in force since 1988 and re-grow robusta.
Replacing ever increasing coffee imports with local production, which according to figures from PROCOMER, reached 3500 tons in the first five months of this year, is one of the main motivations of the plan being prepared by producers, exporters and roasters, together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.
In the last thirty years the total amount of land dedicated to the cultivation of coffee beans nationwide dropped by 6.4%, going from 89,881 hectares in 1984 to 84,133 in 2015.
The number of farms engaged in the planting and cultivation of coffee has also been declining in recent years. Data from the State of the Nation report indicates that in 1984 there were 34,464 farms that were engaged in this activity, whereas in 2015 the number dropped to 26,527.
Due to real estate growth, the area planted with coffee in the Central Valley fell by 25% in the last thirteen years, going from 113,000 to 84,000 hectares.
The union of grain producers says that the most affected areas, along with the Central Valley are Perez Zeledon, Turrialba valley and the western valley.
Crhoy.com reports that "... This reduction in growing areas has impacted production.
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