The coffee rust crises in Colombia and Central America (2008–2013): impacts, plausible causes and proposed solutions

Coffee rust is a leaf disease caused by the fungus, Hemileia vastatrix. Coffee rust epidemics, with intensities higher than previously observed, have affected a number of countries including: Colombia, from 2008 to 2011; Central America and Mexico, in 2012–13; and Peru and Ecuador in 2013. There are...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Avelino, Jacques, Cristancho, Marco, Georgiou, Selena, Imbach, Pablo, Aguilar, Lorena, Bornemann, Gustavo, Läderach, Peter R.D., Anzueto, Francisco, Hruska, Allan J, Morales, Carmen
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Springer 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/57487
_version_ 1855516465747197952
author Avelino, Jacques
Cristancho, Marco
Georgiou, Selena
Imbach, Pablo
Aguilar, Lorena
Bornemann, Gustavo
Läderach, Peter R.D.
Anzueto, Francisco
Hruska, Allan J
Morales, Carmen
author_browse Aguilar, Lorena
Anzueto, Francisco
Avelino, Jacques
Bornemann, Gustavo
Cristancho, Marco
Georgiou, Selena
Hruska, Allan J
Imbach, Pablo
Läderach, Peter R.D.
Morales, Carmen
author_facet Avelino, Jacques
Cristancho, Marco
Georgiou, Selena
Imbach, Pablo
Aguilar, Lorena
Bornemann, Gustavo
Läderach, Peter R.D.
Anzueto, Francisco
Hruska, Allan J
Morales, Carmen
author_sort Avelino, Jacques
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Coffee rust is a leaf disease caused by the fungus, Hemileia vastatrix. Coffee rust epidemics, with intensities higher than previously observed, have affected a number of countries including: Colombia, from 2008 to 2011; Central America and Mexico, in 2012–13; and Peru and Ecuador in 2013. There are many contributing factors to the onset of these epidemics e.g. the state of the economy, crop management decisions and the prevailing weather, and many resulting impacts e.g. on production, on farmers’ and labourers’ income and livelihood, and on food security. Production has been considerably reduced in Colombia (by 31 % on average during the epidemic years compared with 2007) and Central America (by 16 % in 2013 compared with 2011–12 and by 10 % in 2013–14 compared with 2012–13). These reductions have had direct impacts on the livelihoods of thousands of smallholders and harvesters. For these populations, particularly in Central America, coffee is often the only source of income used to buy food and supplies for the cultivation of basic grains. As a result, the coffee rust epidemic has had indirect impacts on food security. The main drivers of these epidemics are economic and meteorological. All the intense epidemics experienced during the last 37 years in Central America and Colombia were concurrent with low coffee profitability periods due to coffee price declines, as was the case in the 2012–13 Central American epidemic, or due to increases in input costs, as in the 2008–11 Colombian epidemics. Low profitability led to suboptimal coffee management, which resulted in increased plant vulnerability to pests and diseases. A common factor in the recent Colombian and Central American epidemics was a reduction in the diurnal thermal amplitude, with higher minimum/lower maximum temperatures (+0.1 °C/-0.5 °C on average during 2008–2011 compared to a low coffee rust incidence period, 1991–1994, in Chinchiná, Colombia; +0.9 °C/-1.2 °C on average in 2012 compared with prevailing climate, in 1224 farms from Guatemala). This likely decreased the latency period of the disease. These epidemics should be considered as a warning for the future, as they were enhanced by weather conditions consistent with climate change. Appropriate actions need to be taken in the near future to address this issue including: the development and establishment of resistant coffee cultivars; the creation of early warning systems; the design of crop management systems adapted to climate change and to pest and disease threats; and socio-economic solutions such as training and organisational strengthening.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace57487
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
publishDateSort 2015
publisher Springer
publisherStr Springer
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace574872025-03-13T09:44:00Z The coffee rust crises in Colombia and Central America (2008–2013): impacts, plausible causes and proposed solutions Avelino, Jacques Cristancho, Marco Georgiou, Selena Imbach, Pablo Aguilar, Lorena Bornemann, Gustavo Läderach, Peter R.D. Anzueto, Francisco Hruska, Allan J Morales, Carmen hemileia vastatrix coffea arabica crop losses food security crop management climate change smallholders pérdidas de la cosecha seguridad alimentaria manejo del cultivo cambio climático development food science Coffee rust is a leaf disease caused by the fungus, Hemileia vastatrix. Coffee rust epidemics, with intensities higher than previously observed, have affected a number of countries including: Colombia, from 2008 to 2011; Central America and Mexico, in 2012–13; and Peru and Ecuador in 2013. There are many contributing factors to the onset of these epidemics e.g. the state of the economy, crop management decisions and the prevailing weather, and many resulting impacts e.g. on production, on farmers’ and labourers’ income and livelihood, and on food security. Production has been considerably reduced in Colombia (by 31 % on average during the epidemic years compared with 2007) and Central America (by 16 % in 2013 compared with 2011–12 and by 10 % in 2013–14 compared with 2012–13). These reductions have had direct impacts on the livelihoods of thousands of smallholders and harvesters. For these populations, particularly in Central America, coffee is often the only source of income used to buy food and supplies for the cultivation of basic grains. As a result, the coffee rust epidemic has had indirect impacts on food security. The main drivers of these epidemics are economic and meteorological. All the intense epidemics experienced during the last 37 years in Central America and Colombia were concurrent with low coffee profitability periods due to coffee price declines, as was the case in the 2012–13 Central American epidemic, or due to increases in input costs, as in the 2008–11 Colombian epidemics. Low profitability led to suboptimal coffee management, which resulted in increased plant vulnerability to pests and diseases. A common factor in the recent Colombian and Central American epidemics was a reduction in the diurnal thermal amplitude, with higher minimum/lower maximum temperatures (+0.1 °C/-0.5 °C on average during 2008–2011 compared to a low coffee rust incidence period, 1991–1994, in Chinchiná, Colombia; +0.9 °C/-1.2 °C on average in 2012 compared with prevailing climate, in 1224 farms from Guatemala). This likely decreased the latency period of the disease. These epidemics should be considered as a warning for the future, as they were enhanced by weather conditions consistent with climate change. Appropriate actions need to be taken in the near future to address this issue including: the development and establishment of resistant coffee cultivars; the creation of early warning systems; the design of crop management systems adapted to climate change and to pest and disease threats; and socio-economic solutions such as training and organisational strengthening. 2015-04 2015-03-12T19:11:48Z 2015-03-12T19:11:48Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/57487 en Open Access Springer Avelino, Jacques; Cristancho, Marco; Georgiou, Selena; Imbach, Pablo; Aguilar, Lorena; Bornemann, Gustavo; Läderach, Peter; Anzueto, Francisco; Hruska, Allan J.; Morales, Carmen. 2015. The coffee rust crises in Colombia and Central America (2008–2013): impacts, plausible causes and proposed solutions. Food Security 7(2): 303-321
spellingShingle hemileia vastatrix
coffea arabica
crop losses
food security
crop management
climate change
smallholders
pérdidas de la cosecha
seguridad alimentaria
manejo del cultivo
cambio climático
development
food science
Avelino, Jacques
Cristancho, Marco
Georgiou, Selena
Imbach, Pablo
Aguilar, Lorena
Bornemann, Gustavo
Läderach, Peter R.D.
Anzueto, Francisco
Hruska, Allan J
Morales, Carmen
The coffee rust crises in Colombia and Central America (2008–2013): impacts, plausible causes and proposed solutions
title The coffee rust crises in Colombia and Central America (2008–2013): impacts, plausible causes and proposed solutions
title_full The coffee rust crises in Colombia and Central America (2008–2013): impacts, plausible causes and proposed solutions
title_fullStr The coffee rust crises in Colombia and Central America (2008–2013): impacts, plausible causes and proposed solutions
title_full_unstemmed The coffee rust crises in Colombia and Central America (2008–2013): impacts, plausible causes and proposed solutions
title_short The coffee rust crises in Colombia and Central America (2008–2013): impacts, plausible causes and proposed solutions
title_sort coffee rust crises in colombia and central america 2008 2013 impacts plausible causes and proposed solutions
topic hemileia vastatrix
coffea arabica
crop losses
food security
crop management
climate change
smallholders
pérdidas de la cosecha
seguridad alimentaria
manejo del cultivo
cambio climático
development
food science
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/57487
work_keys_str_mv AT avelinojacques thecoffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT cristanchomarco thecoffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT georgiouselena thecoffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT imbachpablo thecoffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT aguilarlorena thecoffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT bornemanngustavo thecoffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT laderachpeterrd thecoffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT anzuetofrancisco thecoffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT hruskaallanj thecoffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT moralescarmen thecoffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT avelinojacques coffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT cristanchomarco coffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT georgiouselena coffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT imbachpablo coffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT aguilarlorena coffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT bornemanngustavo coffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT laderachpeterrd coffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT anzuetofrancisco coffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT hruskaallanj coffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions
AT moralescarmen coffeerustcrisesincolombiaandcentralamerica20082013impactsplausiblecausesandproposedsolutions