.... coffee is main source of income for farmers in Uganda. Three-quarters of the population earn money from coffee production export. Coffee earnings contribute to infrastructure development, roads, storage facilities, schools, hospitals, first-stage processing firms.

HB wrote:Seen at a gas station near Oak Island, NC. It nicely sums up the espresso scene in this region.

...In order to assess agronomic characteristics, resistance to leaf miners and transfer of [genetically modified] pollen to non-transgenic coffee trees planted around the trail plot, GM Bt robusta plants are currently being planted in French Guiana for field testing over the next five years.

[Bt is shorthand for the Bacillus thuringiensis gene, inserted into the plant to produce toxins that kill or repel insects.]

As the trials are not in Africa, contamination of wild coffee species will not be a problem. But if Bt coffee were grown in Africa in the future there is a danger that cross-pollination could occur, particularly as seeds can be dispersed by birds or bats and cherries are often transported long distances. Smallholders growing coffee in the vicinity of GM coffee could be at risk from contamination and growers might find it more difficult to cash in on the organic or non-GM speciality markets. Non-target effects, for example on bees, will also be studied during the Bt trials but, as with other herbicide-resistant plants, there is considerable concern over the long-term implications of these species being grown with regard to biodiversity and the risk of selection of resistant insects and weeds.

GM technologies, and particularly those for coffee, are still relatively new on the scene. Admittedly, they are developing thick and fast but, ultimately, although cost-effectiveness of technologies will have an impact, the preferences and influence of the consumer is likely to determine when and if the GM storm over coffee breaks.

Biodiesel Comes in All Flavours
Mario Osava* - Tierramerica

Coffee beans of lower quality, which represent about 20 percent of the national coffee harvest [in Brazil], are emerging as an alternative raw material for biodiesel. ... Oil from urban runoff [i.e. sh*t in the street] has also been proved as a "good quality" raw material for biodiesel ... Converting oil from runoff into fuel would stimulate basic sanitation in Brazil, where less than half the population has access to sewage systems ...

timo888 wrote: