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http://buyorganiccoffee.org/799/leaf-rust-kills-organic-coffee-crops/ Leaf Rust Kills Organic Coffee Crops What is strictly natural coffee? Is it healthy organic coffee? Who plants it? Who harvests it? Who processes strictly natural coffee to preserve its organic qualities? Can you find organic coffee antioxidants in strictly natural coffee? Where can you buy strictly natural coffee and does someone certify it? Strictly natural coffee not only grows in the wild but grows where it grows because a bird dropped a seed and the plant started to grow. After all, coffee grew in the wilds of East Africa where it was first recognized and used to brew coffee. Strictly natural coffee is not cultivated but in order for us to consume strictly natural coffee someone needs to pick it and process it, ship it, roast it, and package it. To the extent that strictly natural coffee is not mixed with anything off the coffee farm, treated with chemicals, or dealt with in any way except to roast it and package it, it is truly organic coffee. Strictly Natural Organic Coffee To make sure that natural coffee is free of impurities it is wise to look for evidence of organic coffee certification. This indicates that the soil in which the coffee was grown has had no chemicals applied for at least three years. It also guarantees that the coffee was processed, shipped, roasted, and packaged in conditions that guarantee no mixing with other products. There is, however, no guarantee that organic coffee is strictly natural coffee. There are, however, sources of strictly natural coffee. As an example, some types of Panama Mountain grown organic coffee are strictly natural coffee. There are coffee cooperatives in the provinces of Chiriquí and Veraguas in Panama that pick their coffee in the forested highlands. These shade grown organic coffees grow wild, are not cultivated, and receive no fertilizers or chemicals. They are picked at the peak of perfection, dried, and sent for roasting or shipment as green coffee beans. While shade grown organic coffee is normally spaced out to mimic a plant growing naturally, strictly natural coffee does not require the services of a planter to grow in the right location. Does Strictly Natural Coffee Differ from Organic Coffee? What is strictly natural coffee? Is it healthy organic coffee? Who plants it? Who harvests it? Who processes strictly natural coffee to preserve its organic qualities? Can you find organic coffee antioxidants in strictly natural coffee? Where can you buy strictly natural coffee and does someone certify it? Strictly natural coffee not only grows in the wild but grows where it grows because a bird dropped a seed and the plant started to grow. After all, coffee grew in the wilds of East Africa where it was first recognized and used to brew coffee. Strictly natural coffee is not cultivated but in order for us to consume strictly natural coffee someone needs to pick it and process it, ship it, roast it, and packag
Citation preview
Leaf Rust Kills Organic Coffee Crops
By www.buyorganiccoffee.org
A seemingly eternal threat to growing healthy organic coffee is a fungus that is
native to the tropics where coffee is grown.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/799/leaf-rust-kills-organic-coffee-crops/
Leaf rust attacks coffee crops and leaf rust kills organic
coffee crops.
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If an organic grower is unable to treat the problem with
non-chemical means he risks losing his crop and his
livelihood.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/799/leaf-rust-kills-organic-coffee-crops/
The fungus’ proper name is Hemileia vastatrix.
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When it is not controlled the disease kills coffee plants and
reduces coffee growers to poverty.
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It starts as an orange to yellow somewhat powdery
discoloration on the underside of the leave of the coffee
plant.
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It begins as spots, less than a millimeter in diameter and
grows to millimeters diameter with a pale yellow
discoloration.
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It is known among Latin American coffee growers as “roya.” The issue for organic
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/799/leaf-rust-kills-organic-coffee-crops/
growers is that quarantine and destruction of individual
plants is not always effective.
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Thus a grower who has put the time, effort, and money into getting organic coffee
certification
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may lose everything unless he turns his back on organic
practices and spays the heck out of his coffee plants.
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Then he can only sell his produce at regular coffee prices and not the higher
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/799/leaf-rust-kills-organic-coffee-crops/
prices that good quality organic coffee commands.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/799/leaf-rust-kills-organic-coffee-crops/
If he loses his crop he needs to replant, probably after spraying the soil, and wait
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/799/leaf-rust-kills-organic-coffee-crops/
several years for new coffee plants to reach maturity.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/799/leaf-rust-kills-organic-coffee-crops/
Why Not Just Spray?
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Before organic coffee became popular growers use a copper based chemical to retard the
growth of coffee leaf rust.
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Then they switched to other synthetic fungicides.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/799/leaf-rust-kills-organic-coffee-crops/
One of the older complaints, before folks worried about
being poisoned by chemicals, was the
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/799/leaf-rust-kills-organic-coffee-crops/
copper treatment and others affected taste and produced a product that did not sell well nor command a good price.
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As leaf rust kills organic coffee crops today this is still an
issue.
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A grower could decide to treat with a modern fungicide and
save his coffee crop.
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He would then try to sell his coffee beans and hope that
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the treatment did not devalue his product compared to
regular coffee.
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Then he would need to resume organic farming
practices and wait the usual three years until he
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is certified to have avoided non-organic techniques long enough to be certified again.
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Follow the Money
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As leaf rust kills organic coffee crops the issue, as always, is
money.
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Starbucks, McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, and many others have gotten into organic coffee in a
big way.
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This movement has been good for the small grower and good for the environment and good for coffee drinkers who get a
better cup of coffee.
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It has always been about pressure from consumers who
want to avoid impurities in their coffee and who want to
protect the environment.
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What will these buyers do if their hand-picked growers need to spray to stay alive?
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Will they create a middle category of treated coffee?
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Growers will not stay with the organic movement if they
constantly need to recertify
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and do not get the rewards of better pay for their coffee
each and every year.
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At some point buyers and consumers may need to adopt the practical approaches that
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farmers have used for years and accept spraying when it is necessary to keep the sources
of good coffee alive.
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/799/leaf-rust-kills-organic-coffee-crops/