Coffee production in Jamaica

Most of the coffee grown on the island is a derivative of the Brazilian variety known as Coffea arabica Typica, constituting 70% of the yield, while other varieties grown are hybrid varieties of caturra, geisha, etc.{{Sfn|Brathwaite|1981|p=22}} The coffee that is grown in the Blue Mountains region, known as the Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, is said to be of very high quality and is mostly exported.{{Sfn|Brathwaite|1981|p=22}} Coffee is grown at an elevation of {{Convert|15|-|1603|m}}, with a rainfall incidence varying from {{Convert|125|cm}} to more than {{Convert|700|cm}}.{{Sfn|Brathwaite|1981|p=22}} Farming methods are specifically oriented towards a high rate of production with optimum acidity.

The Ministry of Agriculture and its subordinate office, the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Authority {{Cite web|title=Background – Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority|url=http://jacra.org/divisions/coffee/background/|access-date=2020-08-14|language=en-US}} (previously the Coffee Industry Board), are responsible for all activities of the coffee sector. The Coffee Industry Development Company (CIDCO) (was set up by what was then the Coffee Industry Board) assumes direct responsibility for coffee production and also to render assistance to farmers owning {{Convert|1|ha}} or more of land dedicated to this crop.{{Sfn|Brathwaite|1981|p=25}}

The Coffee Industry Regulation Act specifies what coffee may use the Blue Mountain label, and also restricts the use of the Blue Mountain trademark to production authorised by the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Authority {{cite web|last=Jennifer|first=Fraser|date=16 November 1983|title=Rules & Regulations—Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Authority|url=http://jacra.org/divisions/coffee/licensing-permits/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050111223013/http://www.jamaicancoffee.gov.jm/rules%26reg.html|archive-date=11 January 2005|access-date=3 June 2015|website=}} broadly speaking, coffee harvested from the parishes of Saint Andrew, Saint Thomas, Portland, and Saint Mary may be considered Blue Mountain coffee.

File:Barrels of Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee beans.jpg beans]]

According to FAO statistics for 2013, Jamaican coffee production was 6,984 tons, representing about 0.1% of world production.{{Cite web|url= http://www.factfish.com/statistic-country/jamaica/coffee,+green,+production+quantity |title= Jamaica: Coffee, green, production quantity (tons) |access-date=3 June 2015|publisher=Factfish.com}} The coffee was grown in an area of {{Convert|8000|ha}} with a yield rate of 8,730 hectogram per ha. For the period from 1981 to 2013, the lowest production was 958 tons in 1979 and the highest was 15,117 tons in 2007.

Coffee is an export commodity. As it is labour-intensive, it provides employment to a large extent to the rural and urban people of the country right through the stages of production, processing, and sale. Export demand has exceeded production.{{Sfn|Brathwaite|1981|p=22}}{{Better source needed|date=November 2024}} More than 80 per cent of the production of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is exported to Japan. In 2005, there was a shortfall in this export on account of destruction to the crop resulting from the Hurricane Ivan in the later part of 2004.

{{portal|Coffee|Jamaica}}

• Tia Maria
• Economy of Jamaica
• List of countries by coffee production

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|last1= Brathwaite |first1=Chelston W. D. |title=Urgent Plant Pest And Disease Problems In The Caribbean - Proceedings of the First Meeting of The Society for Plant Protection in the Caribbean held in Kingston, Jamaica from Nov. 22-27, 1981|year=1981|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M35tAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA22|publisher=Ministry of Agriculture, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture}}

{{Coffee production}}

Jamaica

Category:Agriculture in Jamaica

Category:Jamaica–Japan relations