Devouring profit - International Coffee Organization

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5.4 Economics of
CBB in Mexico
Using the same Guatemalan studies by Decazy (1989), Ochoa et al. (1989), Zelaya et
al. (1989), we can apply them to a Mexican case of a small producer from Ejido Santa
Rosalia, to estimate losses. Mr. Amado Bartolon is the owner of a small farm whose
productivity is about 13 qq of parchment coffee/ha/yr. For this productivity we can
simulate potential losses due to various levels of CBB following the Ochoa et al.
function, assuming a price of US$52 per quintal of parchment coffee.
From Figure 12, losses vary depending on the level of CBB attack, ranging between
US$0 and US$69/ha/year when CBB reaches 30%. Hence losses can be important;
US$69/ha/yr is equivalent to 22 days work/year in Mexico, approximately one month’s
basic salary, a lot of money in the context of this peasant economy.
US$/ha
73
62
52
41
32
21
10
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
% CBB in coffee plots
Figure 12. Yield losses due to CBB attack.
Cultural control seems the most appropriate IPM component for the smallholder’s
case. According to the coffee farmers from Santa Rosalia, on average they are collecting
about 1 coffee box (18 kg of dried coffee) when doing pepena (removing remaining
coffee from trees after harvest), involving about 4 days labour costing about US$12.5.
This could save up to US$69, equivalent to the expected loss when CBB reaches 30%
infestation. This looks like a good return on investment, with a large safety factor.