MADAGASCAR COFFEE PRODUCTION SEEN LOWER IN 1987

  Madagascar's available coffee
  output is estimated at 80,725 tonnes this year, down from
  82,210 in 1986, due to a rundown of government agricultural
  services and the poor state of feeder roads in rural areas,
  Agriculture Ministry sources said.
      This is after accounting for the loss of some 15,000 to
  20,000 tonnes due to the transport problems in the countryside,
  they said.
      The sources did not give an estimate for exports in 1987,
  but they noted that shipments declined to 37,200 tonnes last
  year from 41,662 in 1985.
      Low yields from the country's ageing coffee plantations and
  prevalence of the fungal disease Hemileia Vastatrix also
  contributed to the poor performance, the sources said.
      They pointed out that 52 pct of Madagascar's coffee bushes
  were planted before 1930.
      The sources said Madagascar was still a long way from
  reaching the production target of 110,000 tonnes per year and
  the export target of 63,000 tonnes outlined in the government's
  1986-1990 five-year plan.
      In order to reverse the decline in coffee production, the
  government has decided to plant 20,000 hectares with
  high-yielding arabica and canephora varieties, the sources
  said.
      The planting programme will begin this year and is aimed at
  producing 300 to 360 kilos per hectare of beans with a low
  caffeine content.
      The sources added that Madagascar's plan to export roasted
  coffee has failed to take off due to packaging problems. Only
  650 tonnes of roasted coffee were exported last year.
  

