Coffee Producers Gather in Brazil for World Conference

The Second World Coffee Conference, the most important international gathering of world coffee producers, took place this weekend in Salvador, in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia.

The event was opened on Saturday, September 24, by Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply, Roberto Rodrigues.


The agenda of the conference, which was sponsored by the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture in conjunction with the International Coffee Organization, covered topics related to production and the market.


The presidents of Colombia, ílvaro Uribe Vélez, and El Salvador, Elias Antonio Saca, were invited to attend, along with dozens of delegations from other producer countries.


Around 1000 people participated in the conference, half of them Brazilian coffee planters and technical specialists. Brazil is the world’s largest coffee exporter, with an estimated crop of 33.3 million 60-kilogram sacks for the 2005-2006 agricultural year.


The secretary of Production and Agro-Energy in the Ministry of Agriculture, Linneu Costa Lima, contends that Brazil “must maintain or surpass its current 40% share of the world coffee market.”


Data from the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture (CNA) reveal that coffee production generates US$ 90 billion in business around the world and that global consumption will amount to 119 million sacks in 2005, while production is expected to attain 105-110 million sacks. International coffee stockpiles currently stand at 20 million sacks.


“World coffee consumption should reach 146 million sacks per year in 10 years. Brazil will have to furnish 60 million sacks in order to maintain its market share,” observes Costa Lima.


He recalls that coffee production is one of the world’s most important activities in terms of job creation. “8.5 million people in Brazil depend on coffee, directly or indirectly. In Bahia state this segment corresponds to 250,000 people.” According to the CNA, 25% of Brazil’s coffee producers are engaged in family farming.


The Brazilian Agricultural Research Company (Embrapa) unveiled a machine invented by its research nucleus to multiply cuttings of coffee and other plants with much greater hygiene, security, and economy. The equipment constitutes a bioreactor devised to produce plants semi-automatically, with monitoring and control of planting conditions.


According to Embrapa researcher, João Batista Teixeira, in charge of the development of the bioreactor, “plant cloning has shown itself to be an excellent option to accelerate the production of high quality hybrid coffee varieties with resistance to pests and diseases.”


In commemoration of the conference, the Brazilian Post Office and Telegraph Company decided to launch a personalized stamp and a postmark alluding to the event. Distribution of the stamp, in a limited edition of 1,800 units, was to be solely for conference participants.


Agência Brasil

Tags:

You May Also Like

We Brazilians Are Deaf, Incapable of Feeling Indignation

Thanks to a project of Workers Party Senator Ideli Salvatti of Santa Catarina State, ...

A Carnaval of Disillusion in Brazil

Brazilian politics is once again involved in a scandal. It was revealed that the ...

Indians Advocate Plurinational States Involving Brazil and Neighbors

Indigenous peoples from Brazil and neighboring countries would like to turn Latin American nations into ...

Brazil’s Gol Hopeful Final Merger with Varig Will Bring Back Blue Skies

Cade (Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica – Administrative Council for Economic Defense), Brazil's antimonopoly ...

GM Is Turning Brazil into Biofuel Car World Leader

General Motors, in spite of its misfortune or long standing mismanagement in the US, ...

For Brazil Justice Caving In to FIFA’s Demands Means to Issue a Banana Republic Certificate

Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF) is against the proposals made by Soccer’s International Federation, FIFA, ...

Brazil’s Beauty Industry Triples to a US$ 11 Billion Venture

In Brazil, the cosmetics and personal hygiene products sector is among those that grow ...

Santa Catarina, Brazil, Boosts by 28% Exports to Mercosur

Santa Catarina, a state in the South of Brazil, has increased its exports to ...

Brazil Fines Forest Burner US$ 410,000

Brazil’s Ibama (Environmental Protection Institute) has slapped a US$ 410,000 (1,331,000 reais) fine on ...

Febem, São Paulo, Brazil's institution for delinquent minors

Quotas Are Just a Palliative. Brazil Needs Equal Opportunity for All.

One hundred twenty years after the abolition of slavery, two photographs, side by side, ...