The latest news of the world coffee industry: the decline of coffee cultivation in Costa Rica

According to Costa Rica's "Financier" newspaper reported on December 14. The area under coffee cultivation has decreased by 6.4 per cent in the last 30 years. In 1984, it was 89881 hectares, and in 2015, only 84133 hectares remained. Coffee plantations had to cede land to real estate, especially in metropolitan areas. At the same time, world coffee price fluctuations have reduced the profitability of coffee cultivation, which is a challenge for coffee growers to continue their coffee business only by improving production efficiency and adding value to their products.

Not only is the area under coffee cultivation declining, but so is the number of coffee plantations. According to the Atlas of Agricultural Statistics produced by the Colombian Statistical Institute and the Fourth National Agricultural Census (2014), the number of coffee plantations has decreased from 34464 to 26527 in the last 30 years, a decrease of 23%.

Other agricultural activities, such as oil palm, sugar cane, rice, banana and pineapple, have increased in both acreage and number of plantations, putting pressure on coffee cultivation. For example, pineapple planting area has increased 15 times in 30 years, from 2497 hectares to 37660 hectares in 2014. The number of sugar cane plantations decreased by 34 per cent, but the area under cultivation increased by 38 per cent. The number of banana plantations has quadrupled and the area planted has increased by 60%. Large coffee plantations are now concentrated in the Perez Zeledón, Coto Brus and Naranjo regions.

According to official figures, the metropolitan area's population increased from 1,288,082 to 2,268,248 between 1984 and 2011, while the metropolitan area's built-up area doubled between 1982 and 2013, which Ronald Peters, director of the Costa Rican Coffee Institute, attributed to the decline in coffee plantations and acreage. Although coffee cultivation has declined here, it has increased outside the metropolitan area, such as Los Santos.

Unusual fluctuations in coffee prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange have also caused many coffee growers to give up planting, closing at $117 per 100 pounds on Dec. 1, compared with $230 five years ago.

Besides coffee prices and acreage, coffee productivity and quality are the biggest headaches for coffee research institutes. Costa Rica's coffee productivity, which has been modest, averages about 30 farnesas per hectare, and now stands at only 24 farnesas. The key now is to modernize coffee plantations and find coffee varieties that are resistant to weather and pests.

Source: Ministry of Commerce