Colombia could produce 14.5 million 60-kg bags of coffee this year, the highest output in more than two decades, the head of the country's growers' federation said on Thursday, as it pushes productivity and fertilisation improvements on farms.
Coffee growers in the Andean nation, the world's top producer of high-quality washed arabica, reached output of 14.2 million bags, the previous high, last year despite drought and a truckers strike that stymied exports. If the country reaches output of 14.5 million 60-kg bags it would be the highest in 24 years.
"We should be at a level close to what we harvested in 2016. Production volume could be the same or a bit above. I wouldn't rule out 14.5 million bags or a bit more in 2017," Roberto Velez, head of the federation, told Reuters.
Productivity is the primary challenge for farmers, Velez said. Colombia had an output of 18 bags per hectare in 2016, but if growers increase tree density, that figure could go up to 21 bags per hectare and increase overall production to some 16 or 17 million bags a year, he said.
"For the moment we're concentrated on productivity, instead of expanding farms," Velez said in an interview at his Bogota office.
Brazil, the world's top coffee producer by volume, has an average output of 27 bags per hectare, while No. 2 producer Vietnam reaches 35 bags per hectare, he said.