Honduras New Season Coffee Harvest in Jeopardy Amid Triple Threat of COVID-19, Hurricane, and Leaf Rust

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The Honduran National Coffee Institute (IHCAFE) has stated that Honduras's coffee export forecast for the 2020/2021 harvest season is expected to decrease by approximately 11%. This is due to the global pandemic still being poorly controlled, combined with heavy rainfall caused by Hurricane ETA in the Central American region, which has resulted in significant damage. Beyond destroying large areas of coffee farms and knocking unripe coffee cherries from trees, this has also exacerbated the pre-existing outbreak of coffee leaf rust, which will pose a long-term challenge for Honduran coffee growers.

Francisco Ordoñez, chairman of the IHCAFE board, stated in an interview with Reuters: "Currently in the 2020/2021 harvest season, Central America's largest coffee producer and exporter estimates that Honduras's coffee exports will decline from 6.3 million bags to 5.6 million bags (60 kg per bag)."

How is COVID-19 affecting Honduran coffee production?

In one of Honduras's major producing regions, El Paraíso, coffee growers indicated they need approximately 70,000 workers for harvesting, but so far this year, they only have about 40,000 harvest personnel. In this region bordering Nicaragua, coffee harvesting began on December 15th and will continue until mid-February. Coffee grower Fredy Pastrana said that many workers within Honduras are not concerned about the domestic pandemic situation this year, so most workers are willing to participate in harvesting work. However, the bigger problem now is getting harvest personnel from outside the border, as Honduran officials require foreigners to present negative COVID-19 test results before entering the country.

However, few Nicaraguan harvesters are undergoing nucleic acid testing because the test costs $24, which is extremely expensive for many harvest workers. Therefore, the Honduran Coffee Growers Association is attempting to persuade the Honduran government to establish low-cost quarantine facilities at border stations, allowing more Nicaraguan harvesters to enter Honduras for work.

Currently, Honduras's production regions are relying on small numbers of local harvest personnel for coffee harvesting. Coffee growers worry that if heavy rains occur again before harvesting is completed, more fully ripe coffee cherries will fall, resulting in even lower yields. In western Ocotepeque, grower Virgilio Pacheco said he had to find harvesters from Guatemala and persuade them to undergo nucleic acid testing.

How dangerous is coffee leaf rust?

Coffee leaf rust is a fungus, but unlike most fungi that feed on decaying matter (plant or animal), all 8,000 identified rust fungus species belong to "obligate biotrophic fungi," meaning they require living hosts to survive.

Leaf rust symptoms primarily occur on leaves, with fruits and branches rarely being affected. After leaves are infected by rust fungi, small, light yellow, water-soaked spots initially appear on the back of leaves, surrounded by light green halos. When spots expand to 5-8mm, orange-yellow powdery spore masses emerge from stomata in the affected areas. Spots gradually expand, with several spots merging into irregularly shaped large spots. Later, the center of spots dries out and turns brown, with brown spots visible on both sides of leaves, eventually falling off gradually. Coffee plants can die within several years.

One of the difficulties in combating coffee leaf rust is its extreme ease of transmission. Because fungal spores are very lightweight and powdery, they easily spread through wind and rain, and can even be transmitted through workers' clothing and tools. Therefore, the hurricane has naturally become a rapid pathway for the spread of coffee leaf rust.

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