Posted on: Wednesday, November 26, 2003

Low rainfall contributes to a smaller Kona coffee harvest

Associated Press

KAILUA, KONA, Big Island — Reports indicate that this year's Kona coffee harvest is significantly down from the near-record 4.1 million pounds produced last year, mostly because of dry weather conditions, state agriculture officials said.

About 10 percent of the beans brought in for processing this season were empty seed husks — about four times higher than average, said Kent Fleming, a University of Hawai'i-Manoa economics professor and extension-service economist.

While some farmers in Holualoa saw a drop of about 10 percent, others, such as those in South Kona and lower elevations were down from 30 percent to 70 percent, Fleming said.

Near-normal rainfall last year helped produce a harvest of 4.1 million pounds.

But May and June rainfall this year in the same area was less than 2 percent of the monthly average of 7 inches to 8 inches, according to state and federal statistics.