By Jean Guerrero /DJ news
El Salvador is giving thousands of coffee producers pesticides, fertilizer and other tools to combat a coffee-eating fungus known as roya that has spread to nearly half of the country's plantations, the Salvadoran Coffee Council said Monday. The council said between 40% and 50% of the country's coffee-cultivated land is seeing an unusually aggressive roya attack, and that the government is subsidizing productivity-boosting products to help offset some of theeffects. Roughly 5,000 of the country's 20,000 coffee producers are expected to benefit. The council said this is the first time the government has intervened on such a widespread level in the coffee sector. The Central American country still expects production during the current 2012-2013 season that began Oct. 1 and runs through September of next year to yield 1.4 million 60-kilogram bags of coffee, up 22% from last season's output. But in 2013-2014, production will likely drop as a result of the fungus, which causes the leaves of coffee plants to fall, resulting in long-term damage. The council said it is too early to emit a forecast.
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