Introduction of coffee varieties from Picincha, Ecuador _ New Ecuadorian coffee variety-Sidra variety

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Ecuador, a member of the Union of South American Nations, is located in northwest South America, bordering Colombia in the north, Peru in the south and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Quito, the capital, is located in the foothills of Mount Picancha.

As we all know, Ecuador is one of the countries with the richest biodiversity in the world. There are more than 1500 species of birds in this country, which is about 1x6 of all birds in the world. Despite its small size, Ecuador actually has twice as many plant and animal species as the United States and Canada, four times as many as in Europe, and the largest plant species per unit area in the Americas. Unfortunately, the rate of deforestation is increasing at an alarming rate.

Coffee was introduced in Ecuador in the early 19th century and remained one of Ecuador's main export crops until the 1970s. Today, oil, shrimp and bananas are the most exported. )

The decline in coffee production in Ecuador began in the 1980s as acreage began to decline and coffee was often unharvested because of its own low prices. Coffee production began to decline sharply during the price crisis of the 1990s and early 2000s. Ecuador's economy is largely dependent on oil, while it is less dependent on agriculture than many other coffee-growing countries, and Ecuador produces less than 1% of world coffee production. The income of coffee has decreased, especially during this period, the international price of coffee has been very low, often lower than the cost of production.

Coffee did not become a major commercial project in Ecuador until the late 1920s, when the cocoa industry was threatened by disease and coffee was still largely a successor to the national economy.

The establishment of COFENAC is self-defeating

Although the Ecuadorian government supports the formation of the National Coffee Association COFENAC (Consejo Cafetalero Nacional) and allows it to impose a 2 per cent surcharge on all coffee exports, the coffee industry has maintained extremely low yields and farmers have received little help in solving the coffee failure problem. COFENAC does not provide the training, technology transfer, agricultural credit or producer support that most observers claim to be needed.

On the contrary, COFENAC, which claims to drive the coffee economy, has actually led to a decline in the quality and market access of Ecuadorian coffee. In order to provide the production of instant coffee in Ecuador, COFENAC paid more attention to the sales of coffee by middlemen rather than increasing production, approving the import of large quantities of Vietnamese coffee. Ecuadorian coffee tycoons have found that its more profitable channels come from cheap, low-quality coffee from Vietnam, rather than paying fair prices to local Ecuadorian small farmers. Although it may generate immediate profits, this short-sighted policy continues to reduce Ecuador's export freedom of soluble coffee beans and whole bean coffee from 3% in 2000 to 1% in 2001 and 2002.

In Ecuador, about 500000 people depend on coffee for their livelihood, and about 1 in 8 farmers and their families live in Ecuador. Unbearable poverty is the reality of today's small farmers, which has led to the abandonment of many coffee plantations. Many poor farmers migrate to Spain, Italy and the United States in search of work and survival. Because of the pest problem caused by coffee rotting in the bushes, coffee farmers struggle when the price is too low to harvest.

Ecuadorian coffee export

Ninety percent of Ecuador's coffee exports are in Guayaquil, which was built on October 9, 1536. It is the industrial center of Ecuador, the main foreign trade port and the hub of railways, roads and aviation.

Challenges facing Ecuador

Selective harvesting in Ecuador is particularly difficult: coffee needs to be harvested throughout the year because the country is located at the equator.

The country's altitude ranges from sea level to more than 2000 metres-wide differences in topography and climate, coupled with specific challenges combined with its position on the equator, provide a unique but not impossible challenge. A branch usually includes all stages of the coffee cycle: unripe coffee cherries, ripe coffee cherries, and side-by-side coffee blossoms. This forces a farmer to constantly pick coffee and process it to get enough exports, resulting in higher labor costs due to extended picking cycles.

Another major challenge: climate change

Ecuador is prone to such subtle changes, and minor climate changes can have a huge impact on farmland, whether due to elevation and the equator, or to the jungles in the east and the oceans in the west. Where fog is often seen in the morning and afternoon sun, it is sometimes shrouded in fog all day and cannot be dry even in a drying factory. In some cases, the temperature and exposure can become too high for coffee farms. In order to grow coffee of the same quality as in previous years, coffee farmers must pay more time.

Coffee cultivation in Ecuador

The coffee-growing land of Ecuador is located in the western hills of the Andes south of Guayaquil and in the hills of the coastal province of Manabi. The low altitude area of Manabi, which is 500-700 meters above sea level, is the largest area of production in Arabica, producing about 50% of the country's. Some Robusta varieties, used for soluble (instant) coffee, are grown in northern Ecuador. Most Ecuadorian coffee is grown on small farms with an area of 1 to 10 hectares, about half of the coffee land is grown separately, while the rest is grown on cocoa, citrus fruits, bananas and mangoes.

Ecuadorians do not believe that good coffee must grow at high altitude. they grow coffee not only along the backbone of the Andes, but also in coastal areas, low-lying Amazon basins and even the Galapagos Islands. As roasters across the United States are looking for sustainable, small coffee plantations, they are increasingly turning to Ecuador, where it is not uncommon for names like Loja, Zaruma and Intag to appear in bean bags.

New varieties of Ecuadorian coffee:

One of the most interesting things that happened in Ecuadorian soil was the emergence of a new variety called Sidra. This is a mixture of bourbon and Tibica varieties, and the Sidra variety will show very unique fruit and flower flavor characteristics. After growing and carefully roasting at high altitudes, these coffees stand out on the cup table and are likely to bring Ecuador closer to professional coffee-producing countries.

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