Coffee in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state loses almost 20% of its cultivated area to frosts

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The recent severe frosts in Brazil resulted in losses on about 19% of coffee-cultivated areas in Minas Gerais state, equivalent to 173,680 hectares.

This was estimated by the State Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company (Emater-MG) on Wednesday (25), while the federal government was looking for ways to keep the damaged farmers in business.

The magnitude of the impact in MG is in line with projections made the previous day by Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina that losses would be between 18% and 20%.

The president of Emater-MG, Otávio Maia, said that a mapping had been carried out with technicians of the agency and meetings with representatives of the sector to collect the main demands of coffee farmers affected by the biggest frost in several years.

“We have already lobbied the minister, together with the governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema, for the delivery of this study,” he said in a debate broadcast over the Internet, pointing out that some of the main demands of producers were financial support and access to rural insurance.

Silvio Farnese, director of the Agriculture Ministry’s Marketing and Supply Department, who was also present, said the department’s goal is for all producers to remain in the industry.

A report published the previous day by Reuters indicated that there are already cases of coffee growers who have chosen to uproot crops affected by the frost to plant new seedlings or switch to other crops, such as cereals.

“We will certainly do everything we can to make sure no one has to go out of business,” Farnese said.

He explained that a new Coffee Policy Advisory Committee (CDPC) meeting would be held soon. The department is also working with the Ministry of Economic to find solutions to the problem.

The federal government representative added that the allocation of R$1.3 billion (US$245 million) from the Fund for the Protection of the Coffee Sector (Funcafé) for producers affected by the extreme cold was a possibility proposed by the sector itself. The measure was approved last week by the National Monetary Council (CMN).

Regarding the additional funds of R$1 billion announced by Banco do Brasil on Tuesday, Fernando Barbosa, a representative of coffee producers in the São Pedro da União (MG) region, said the aid was urgently needed but warned about the conditions and prices of the measure.

“The funds are coming at the right time, but we have to wait and see how these funds will arrive, what the interest rate will be, and whether producers can afford them,” he said, stressing that the national average is between 18 and 20% loss. Still, there are cases where a single producer has more than 80% of his cultivated land devastated by the cold.