Cenicafé and Coffee from Colombia

Colombia grows great coffee. Its production is virtually all arabica coffee. Colombian coffee commands a price generally higher than the world coffee market price because of its quality. This great quality comes from coffee being grown in rich volcanic soil by families that have been in the coffee farming business for generations. However, Colombians have had to overcome various threats to their coffee business including the arrival of coffee leaf rust and the destruction of significant portions of their coffee crop. The Colombian institution that has repeatedly come to the rescue of Colombian coffee production in the face of plant diseases and pests is Cenicafé, the Colombian National Coffee Research Center. Cenicafé also works with coffee farmers to promote sustainable coffee farming, natural resource preservation, and continued production of great coffee in the face of a changing climate.

Colombia and Coffee by Cenicafé

Cenicafe and New Colombian Coffees

A major threat to coffee production everywhere is coffee leaf rust, Hemileia vastratrix. This fungal disease first affected coffee crops in the East Indies and around the Indian Ocean in the middle of the 19th century. It was a big reason why growers in places like Ceylon (Sri Lanka) switched to tea and the English came to drink tea instead of coffee. The disease spread across Africa to the Atlantic coast by the 1950s and reached Brazil in 1971. It reached Colombia in 1983 and caused as much as 30% crop loss by the 21st century.

Cenicafé, which was founded in 1938, took up the task of protecting Colombian coffee production from coffee leaf rust even before the plant disease arrived in Colombia. The most recent leaf rust resistant arabica coffee developed by Cenicafe is Cenicafe1 which is a cross between the Caturra variety and a leaf rust resistant strain from the East Indies on the island of Timor. The strain is also resistant to coffee berry disease.

Previous varieties developed by Cenicafé include Castillo, Colombia, and Tabi. Castillo is a cross between a Timor hybrid and Caturra which is a rust resistant mutation from Brazil. Likewise Colombia is a cross between Caturra and a Timor hybrid. Tabi was developed by crossing a Timor hybrid with Bourbon and Typica. Each of these has qualities making it the best choice for specific areas and altitudes in Colombia.

Where Is Cenicafé?

While the main Cenicafe facility is in Chinchiná, Caldas, they have eight research stations scattered throughout the Colombian coffee producing region. These stations can be found throughout the three parallel mountain ranges that comprise the Andes as they pass through Colombia and include a variety of microclimates.

Who Buys Colombian Cenicafé Coffee?

The biggest buyer of Colombian coffee by far is the USA at about 29 kilotons a year. The next step down is Germany followed by Canada, Japan, and Belgium each in the 50 kiloton to 55 kiloton range. The total sum of exports to all other nations comes to about 200 kilotons. The biggest individual coffee exporter from Colombia is the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia or Colombian National Coffee Growers Federation which is the parent organization of Cenicafé.




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