Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee in a packet

Coffee production in Jamaica began after 1728, when governor Sir

Nicholas Lawes Sir Nicholas Lawes ( – 18 June 1731) was a British judge and colonial administrator who served as the List of governors of Jamaica, governor of Jamaica from 1718 to 1722. Early life Nicholas Lawes was born to Nicholas and Amy Lawes. ...

introduced the crop near Castleton, north of

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee or Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee is a classification of coffee grown in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. The coffee was introduced to Jamaica in 1728. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is an Arabica coffee-bean variety ca ...

is the special variety of coffee that is grown in the Blue Mountains region, which has the most conducive climate and topographical features; this variety is known for its scent and sweet taste. Most of Jamaica's coffee production is grown for export.

Plantation

Most of the coffee grown on the island is a derivative of the Brazilian variety known as Coffea arabica Typica, constituting 70% of the yield, while other varieties grown are hybrid varieties of caturra, geisha, etc. The coffee that is grown in the Blue Mountains region, known as the

, is said to be of very high quality and is mostly exported. Coffee is grown at an elevation of , with a rainfall incidence varying from to more than . Farming methods are specifically oriented towards a high rate of production with optimum acidity.

Regulation

The Ministry of Agriculture and its subordinate office, the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Authority (previously the Coffee Industry Board), are responsible for all activities of the coffee sector. The Coffee Industry Development Company (CIDCO) (was set up by what was then the Coffee Industry Board) assumes direct responsibility for coffee production and also to render assistance to farmers owning or more of land dedicated to this crop. The Coffee Industry Regulation Act specifies what coffee may use the Blue Mountain label, and also restricts the use of the Blue Mountain trademark to production authorised by the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Authority broadly speaking, coffee harvested from the parishes of

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Church stems from the Gospel of Jo ...

, Saint Thomas,

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, and

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

may be considered Blue Mountain coffee.

Production

Barrels of Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee beans

According to

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...

statistics for 2013, Jamaican coffee production was 6,984

tons Tons may refer to: * Tons River, a significant river in India * Tamsa River, locally known as Tons in its lower parts (Allahabad district, Uttar Pradesh, India) * The plural of ton, a unit of mass, force, volume, energy, or power, which includes: ...

, representing about 0.1% of world production. The coffee was grown in an area of with a yield rate of 8,730 hectogram per ha. For the period from 1981 to 2013, the lowest production was 958 tons in 1979 and the highest was 15,117 tons in 2007. Coffee is an export commodity. As it is labour-intensive, it provides employment to a large extent to the rural and urban people of the country right through the stages of production, processing, and sale. Export demand has exceeded production. More than 80 per cent of the production of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is exported to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. In 2005, there was a shortfall in this export on account of destruction to the crop resulting from the

Hurricane Ivan Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, and devastating tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane, and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic h ...

in the later part of 2004.

References

Bibliography

* {{Coffee production

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

Agriculture in Jamaica Jamaica–Japan relations

Plantation

Regulation

Production

See also

References

Bibliography