Throughout history, we have seen how society has had to face obstacles, dark periods of all kinds, almost reaching our extinction. And we are not only referring to violence, evil or destruction, but also to natural events that allow us to stop along the way, evaluate our procedures and rise again like the Phoenix. A couple of years ago, the world experienced an evil that brought many consequences called COVID-19. If we look back, this virus began with a small outbreak in Asia. We didn't pay much attention to it, and it spread globally. We came to think that it would never happen to us, that it wouldn't affect us, and the confinement began, the streets emptied, we covered our faces, we re-learned to wash our hands, commerce almost died, the world population decreased significantly, our habits changed and possibly even the way we think and see the world.
In 1869, something similar happened, fulfilling the prediction of a small plague that a British explorer had announced after seeing how wild Arabica coffee plants were affected in Africa. Initially, little attention was paid to it amid monocultures like coffee. They called it Hemilia vastratrix in the English colony of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. This phenomenon is now commonly known asβ¦
The Rust.
This is the main disease of coffee plants in the world. It has been one of the pests that has caused the most losses, resulting in leaf drop after suffering major injuries such as holes or wear. This affects crops, decreasing their production, delaying the harvest process, and could even cause the entire tree to fall. The Arabica variety, which was then cultivated in Ceylon, spread throughout the planet and is perhaps the coffee variety most affected by this pest. In 1970, the world turned its eyes to Latin America, with Brazil as the epicenter of major news, mostly sports. A young and inspired PelΓ© led the "Jogo Bonito" (Beautiful Game) to be crowned World Cup champion in Mexico. Meanwhile, the country itself was hit by the rust virus, which came from Africa, apparently due to the trade winds, causing significant damage to the country's crops and rapidly spreading throughout the rest of the continent.
Its arrival and impact on our country.
Many attempts were made to stop its arrival, but due to the strong attraction that Arabica coffee has with coffee rust, our dark age began in 1983, initially located in ChinchinΓ‘ Caldas and apparently a consequence of a coffee grower's recklessness when visiting Brazil. It sounds very similar to the process we just experienced with COVID-19! And indeed, this disease had a major invasion of crops in the coffee-growing region and throughout the country, especially for trees below 1,600 meters above sea level. Only between 2008 and 2012 were trees affected above this range due to constant climate change, which caused extensive and frequent rainfall, the La NiΓ±a phenomenon, and low solar radiation. In either case, coffee rust has left its consequences for this industry, resulting in the deterioration of the land, the crops, and the coffee-growing companies. After arriving in the country, all the scientific resources were put at their disposal to counter the plague, building up strong evidence and debunking the myths surrounding the healers of the "snake-eating" villages with miracle cures that were actually intensifying its spread.
Once again, science has put everything necessary to work to end the pandemic. By telling this story, we can clearly recall our present, where we learned to live with it, trying to take better care of ourselves and improve aspects like personal hygiene, taking care of our loved ones, and applauding those who have made this change, or rather, this transition to a new normal, possible. After overcoming this initial impact of coffee rust, the same lessons remain: how to integrate a disease into modern life, generating a culture of good practices in Colombian coffee production, research, maintenance, and collaborative work across the various areas of knowledge in the coffee-growing chain.Coffee is said to be the second most consumed beverage in the world, after water, and Colombia is no exception. In these dark times for our flagship product, we were reborn, stronger than ever. Living with this pandemic motivated us to grow other types of coffee, intensify our production with high quality standards, innovate with new flavors, and create new experiences that make this coffee one of the best in the world. Could it be that COVID, like the rust, will make us better people, or at least more aware of our environment?