The upcoming El Nino threatens to drive coffee prices up further, which are already high due to drought in Brazil and as a fungus plagues coffee crops in Central America, according to AccuWeather’s Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski.
AccuWeather.com meteorologists expect the onset of El Nino during midsummer, leading to drought in many of the top coffee-producing countries.
The upcoming El Nino threatens to drive coffee prices up further, which are already high due to drought in Brazil and as the coffee rust plagues coffee crops in Central America.
“During an El Nino, there is a strong correlation between dry weather in Central America,” stated AccuWeather.com Agricultural Weather Expert Dale Mohler.
The coffee crop across Central America is already suffering due to the plant-choking fungus called coffee rust, or la roya.
Rising temperatures and extreme weather, such as flooding, have encouraged the coffee rust to spread.
Vietnam and Colombia are the world’s second and third largest producers of green coffee and may not escape the effects of El Nino.
“These countries could be on the edge of El Nino impacts and may turn drier than normal,” Mohler said.
AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Jason Nicholls also anticipates El Niño to impact India, the sixth greatest producer of green coffee, but not where coffee is grown. “El Nino will hinder monsoonal rain across northern India this summer.
However along the southwestern coast of India, I expect normal to above-normal rainfall from June through September,” Nicholls said.
“The coffee-producing countries of Indonesia and Malaysia are currently in the midst of a drought and will stay in a drought due to El Nino,” Mohler added.
Source: http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/el-ninoinduced-droughts-may-hi-1/26663474
