Colombia coffee farmers tackle many foes in fight to do it right
Coffee sustainability: the journey from bean to barista laid bare
24 Sep 2017
Venezuelan politicians seek refuge abroad
26 Sep 2017
World’s third-largest producer faces constant battle to safeguard future
Gideon Long in Venecia, Colombia
On the El Rosario coffee farm, high in the lush, green mountains of the Colombian province of Antioquia, Carlos Ariel Ángel reels off a list of the bugs and diseases that constantly threaten the coffee harvest.
Top of his list is leaf rust, a fungal disease that first came to prominence when it in effect wiped out the Sri Lankan coffee industry in the 19th century and is now a threat throughout the coffee-growing world. Then there is the dreaded coffee berry borer, a black beetle that burrows into the coffee fruit and ruins it.
Mr Ángel’s list goes on and sounds like something from a medieval apothecary’s handbook: brown eye spot, berry blotch, stem canker stain, leaf spot, pink disease, dieback and sooty mould are just some of the things that keep him awake at night.
