BOGOTA - Coffee-picking machinery could help solve perennial labor shortages in Colombia's coffee industry, the head of the country's growers federation said on Tuesday, as farmers seek workers for the September harvest.
Colombia, the world's top producer of high-quality arabica beans, has faced labor shortages for years, as growers have battled weather extremes that damaged crops across the Andean nation.
Machinery could end the labor troubles once and for all, federation president Roberto Velez told Reuters in an interview.
"Our idea is to get our own version of mechanical assistance for harvesting," Velez said, referring to similar machinery used by Brazilian growers to pick beans.
Automated harvesters, which are operated like tractors, helped Brazilian farmers cut labor costs in 2014 amid a drought and low coffee prices.
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Colombia's mountainous terrain can make the use of machinery challenging, so any equipment will need to "Colombianized," he added.
In the meantime, continued shortages could damage production and export figures.
"It's a structural issue, not a temporary one - we have to find a quick and definitive solution," Velez said.
Displacements during 52 years of war, higher tree productivity and an expansion of coffee-growing in the south have increased demand for workers, he said. The federation is advertising work opportunities in local media hoping to attract pickers.
Workers can earn up to 2 million pesos, about $700, per month, nearly three times the country's monthly minimum wage, Velez said.
Colombia's growers, already reeling from drought, are bracing for torrential rains and roya leaf rust usually brought by the La Nina phenomenon, which may begin this month.
La Nina and roya have devastated the Colombian harvest before, sending annual output in 2012 down to a decades-long low of 7.7 million 60-kg bags.
Farmers who have replaced trees with roya-resistant varieties are best placed to weather the rains, Velez said. The federation expects output of 14.5 million bags this year.
