Colombia coffee growers get aid to boost output

Growers, researchers and vendors will receive 1.4 trillion pesos, or about US$700 million, in cash, credits and farm supplies between 2008 and 2011, to help double coffee exports and increase total output by 37 percent, officials said.

Two-thirds of the assistance will come from government coffers, and the rest from the National Coffee Growers Federation, Agriculture Minister Andres Arias and Finance Minister Oscar Zuluaga said.

Coffee is Colombia's top agricultural export, generating about 3.5 million jobs.

The four-year plan calls for production to increase more than a third to 17 million 60-kilogram (132-pound) sacks a year, and for specialty-bean exports to double to 2 million, 60-kilogram (132-pound) sacks a year--boosting yields without tending new land.

Cash and credits will go to growers, scientists researching new types of beans, and marketers who opened the Juan Valdez Cafe coffee show chain, which now includes 117 shops in Colombia, 12 in U.S., eight in Spain and three in Chile.

From 2003-07, Colombia spent about 700 billion pesos, then worth about US$240 million dollars, on a similar plan that managed to nearly double exports from 543,000 to 1 million sacks of specialty beans.