Yesterday I shared some data showing how Castillo and Caturra samples performed as part of the baseline survey for our Borderlands Coffee Project. As I reflected on the quantitative results, which showed a narrow but persistent advantage for Caturra and a slightly higher upper bound, I wondered whether there was a quantitative difference between the […]
I recently concluded a series that examined the current campaign by Colombia’s coffee authorities to replace the country’s traditional coffee cultivars with the disease-resistant Castillo hybrid as part of their response to the coffee leaf rust epidemic. As part of that series, I wrote: At the risk of oversimplification, the debate has been framed by […]
Over the past two weeks I have written about the coffee leaf rust epidemic that has decimated Colombia’s coffee production, and the response of the country’s coffee authorities, which includes financial incentives for farmers to plant the disease-resistant Castillo cultivar. I have shared the results of a survey we conducted that may bring something novel […]
Over the past two weeks, I have been writing about the response of Colombia’s coffee authorities to the current coffee leaf rust epidemic – a massive effort to replace the country’s traditional coffee varieties with the disease-resistant Castillo cultivar. Today we profile a decidedly more modest effort – our support for farmers who are determined […]
Colombia’s campaign to replace its traditional coffee varieties with the new, disease-resistant Castillo cultivar has been the topic of much conversation in recent years in specialty coffee circles. What few people understand, however, is that Colombia is making coffee farmers an offer that the poorest among them can’t afford to refuse — free money to […]
The Castillo cultivar has been the subject of considerable discussion and no small amount of controversy in the marketplace in recent years. At the risk of oversimplification, the debate has been framed by two positions: that of representatives of Colombia’s Federación Nacional de Cafeteros, who insist that Castillo will thrive in the specialty market because […]
Colombia’s Federación Nacional de Cafeteros is a most remarkable institution. Among the many achievements of which the FNC is justifiably proud is its long tradition of coffee research. The Federation’s first annual budget, way back in 1927, included funding for research into coffee production and disease. In 1938, Colombia established a National Coffee Research Center, […]
At a meeting late last year with the Colombia’s National Coffee Growers Federation, I noticed a calendar on the wall declaring November “The Month of Coffee Leaf Rust Control” in Colombia. What is coffee leaf rust and why it is the cause of so much concern in Colombia?
Over the past decade, the U.S. government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help Colombia eradicate coca production. The campaign has eliminated millions of acres of coca and been the source of considerable debate. Opponents charge that aerial spraying — a controversial approach to eradication employed only in Colombia — has displaced farmers, […]
