Honduras Coffee Growers See Exports Rising 3.6% as Output Gains

Coffee exports from Honduras, the largest producer in Central America, may climb 3.6 percent in the year that began Oct. 1 as output and yields increase, according to the head of a domestic growers group.

Shipments may rise to 5.673 million bags from 5.478 million a year earlier, boosting export income to $1.5 billion from $1.44 billion, Victor Hugo Molina, the general manager of the Honduran Coffee Institute, said yesterday in a telephone interview from the capital, Tegucigalpa. Production may rise 2.6 percent to 5.98 million bags, he said.

Molina attributed the gains to improved farming practices, more fertilization, technical assistance to growers and rising investment in coffee plantations.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marvin G. Perez in New York at mperez71@bloomberg.net

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