Unseasonable rainfall in Uganda’s coffee regions this month is likely to enhance bean development for the harvest expected from April to May, a farmers group in Africa’s top coffee exporter said.
Rain is enhancing moisture for the main harvest in the southern and south-western growing regions, according to David Muwonge, deputy executive director of the National Union of Coffee Agribusiness and Farm Enterprises.
The damp conditions will, however, prolong drying of the crop in the central and eastern regions, where the main harvest closes in February, Muwonge said Monday from Kampala. The first of two rainy season runs from March through May.
Uganda, where the robusta variety accounts for about 80 percent of the crop, may produce 5.8 million 60-kilogram (132-pound) bags in the 12 months through September, according to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority.