Drought and frost affect Brazilian coffee production

The 2021/2022 Coffee Harvest Survey, prepared by the Brazilian Agriculture and Livestock Confederation (CNA) and Café Point, highlighted the impacts of frost and strong drought in the country's main producing regions, with consequences for the crop that was harvested in 2021 and for the next one that will be harvested from May 2022.

The survey interviewed 1.058 producers, between October 1st and December 20th, 2022, in Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Bahia, Rondônia, São Paulo, Acre, Rio de Janeiro and Goiás.

For 74,6% of coffee growers interviewed, the lack of rain affected the production of the 2021 coffee harvest, mainly impacting the state of Minas Gerais. The frosts also caused damage to coffee farming, mainly in the production of Arabica coffee in Minas, with 47% of establishments affected by the weather phenomenon, which will impact the productive potential of crops for the 2022 harvest.

The Coffee Harvest Survey also heard from producers regarding the pending load on their crops, differentiated between high, medium and low. The pending load corresponds to the fruits still developing on the plants, indicating the productive potential for the next harvest.

Considering expectations for national production in 2022, only 10% expect high load production, 47% said that pending load is average and 43% expect low production in the 2022 harvest.

Regarding irrigation technologies, the research showed low adherence to the systems. 84% of producers interviewed responded that they do not use irrigation on their crops. However, among those who use it, the most used system is drip, recommended by 77,8% of irrigating producers.

Regarding marketing, 75% of producers stated that they did not carry out any form of future sales. “This indicates that these producers sell at the time of harvest, or store them on the property and/or cooperatives for later commercialization on the physical market” highlights the research.

As for taking out rural insurance, 86% responded that they do not take out rural insurance and only 14% took out it for the 2022/23 harvest.

The study argues that the sector's low adherence to the contracting of Rural Insurance is worrying in terms of the activity's risk management, considering the increasingly frequent occurrence of extreme weather events.

The survey also highlights the contribution of small and medium-sized properties to coffee growing. Small properties, with an area of ​​less than 50 hectares, represent the land profile of 93% of producers, 80% of which are properties with less than twenty hectares.

Access the full search results: Coffee Harvest Survey 2021/22