Coffee Leaf Rust
(CLR), caused by Hemileia Vastritix,
is a fungus that attacks coffee plantations worldwide, leading to leaf loss,
loss of harvest and, in severe cases, long-term damage to coffee plants. During
the 2012-2013 growing and harvest season, this fungus caused massive economic
losses to farmers throughout Latin America, with some farmers losing as much as
90 percent of their harvest.
In response to the continuing
problem that farmers face in dealing with CLR, UMF is performing an experiment
to evaluate different inorganic (chemical) fungicides as well as potential
organic treatments, with the goal of finding organic treatments that can serve
to control the rust and prevent future damage to the farmers of La Unión.
Chemical fungicides are very expensive and, following the loss during last
year’s harvest, many of the farmers in UMF’s program have been unable to
purchase proper treatments.
Additionally, these chemical fungicides have been
shown to have harmful effects on the health of farmers that spray them, even
more so since access to proper protective equipment is difficult for
small-scale farmers. And finally, chemical fungicides have been shown damaging
to the environment, wildlife, and water sources. The discovery of organic
alternatives to chemical fungicides holds the potential to address all three of
these issues.
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| Martir checks each leaf on a selected branch. |
In the last week of
August, we took initial samples of each area of Amado’s farm. These samples will
serve as a baseline for the effects that chemical and organic treatments have
on CLR. We then sprayed the first round of treatments on each area.
The chemical fungicides
that we are using are copper, Silvacur, and Alto 10. These are the three most
recommended fungicides currently available in the area.
The organic treatments
that we are using are milk whey, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), and madrifol.
Milk whey is widely
available from dairy farmers in the area as a waste product from producing
cheese. This means that farmers are able to attain it without cost. Whey has
been shown to have effects as good as, or in some cases better than, chemical
treatments when applied to powdery funguses in grape vineyards and cucumber
farms. The powdery funguses that attack grapes and cucumbers are not coffee
leaf rust, but they have similar structure. This leads us to believe that there
is a high likelihood that whey will be able to control rust outbreaks in
coffee.
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| Gilberto sprays copper on one section of plants. |
Madrifol is a locally-made fermented mixture of ground leaves from Madreado
trees and wood ash. Although there haven’t been any scientific studies showing
whether madrifol is effective, it is
used as an anti-fungal in different applications in Honduras. The added wood
ash contains bicarbonates (similar to those in baking soda), other organic
salts shown to be effective in controlling powdery funguses, and small amounts
of copper. We are unsure of the expected outcome of this treatment, but this
home-made remedy has long use in Honduras, and we are hopeful that it will be
effective when applied to coffee.
We will continue
spraying organic/inorganic treatments and monitoring the progression of CLR in
each of the separate treatment areas over the coming months. We believe that
this experiment is the most important way that UMF can support both farmers and
the environment in La Unión as coffee leaf rust outbreaks continue in coming
years. We will keep you updated on the progress as we go.
