Nairobi — Farmers and agricultural experts are forecasting a grim outlook for the coffee industry, following a widespread attack on the crop by leaf rust and pests known as Green scales in Mt Kenya region.
Following this, the industry regulator Coffee Board of Kenya, is also revising its estimates for the 2010/2011 crop season.
Farmers fear that they may not be able to repay loans borrowed to purchase inputs, and are asking for government help.
"The Government should declare this a total crop failure and assist farmers. I spent a lot of money on chemicals to save the crop, but none of them worked. I have given up," a farmer in Nyeri ,Mr Chrysogon Wang'ondu, told the Nation.
Production from Mr Wang'ondu's 1,253 coffee trees has plummeted from 8,000 kilogrammes two years ago to 527 kilogrammes last season.
He has not harvested any berry this season, after early crop pests and leaf rust aggravated an already bad situation.
The board's managing director, Ms Loise Njeru, who is the only authorised person to speak to the media, could not be reached for comment.
However, a senior manager who spoke to Nation on condition that he is not named painted a grim picture of the industry.
"Incidents of leaf rust are very high around Mt Kenya region. We are reviewing our earlier projection of 60,000 metric tonnes because it now appears that we might realise between 45,000 to 47,000 metric tonnes," he said.
Many farmers have not harvested an early crop and the coffee trees do not show signs of main crop, whose picking starts around September.
Agricultural experts estimate that production for the greater Nyeri and Kirinyaga, which are major coffee producers, could come down by about 40 per cent.
The Central provincial director of agriculture Mr Joseph Gachingiri, however, said coffee diseases and pests were normal occurrences in hot weather and farmers should stick to their spraying regimes.
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