Puerto Rico Coffee Renaissance (1950-Present)
Summary
Since 1950, Puerto Rican coffee has become much smaller in land and in number of farms. It has been struck by hurricanes, among them Georges in 1998, María in 2017 and Fiona in 2022, and by coffee leaf rust, first detected on the island in 1989. Each time it has been rebuilt, with rust-resistant varieties, public programmes and outside partners. The 2022 U.S. Census of Agriculture counted 2,983 coffee farms on 18,961 cuerdas. This article traces that story through documented figures.
The 1950s: Coffee Still Widespread
Puerto Rico's constitution, which established the Commonwealth (Estado Libre Asociado), took effect on 25 July 1952. Coffee was still a large part of rural life. The 1959 Census of Agriculture counted 22,963 farms growing coffee on 183,430 cuerdas, which harvested about 29 million pounds, compared with 24,657 coffee farms in 1949. Puerto Rican coffee's best-documented sales to the Vatican also date from the 1950s and 1960s; see the article on Puerto Rican coffee and the Vatican. For the decades before 1950, see Puerto Rican Coffee Under American Rule (1898-1950).
Rust-Resistant Varieties
In 1982, two coffee varieties resistant to coffee leaf rust reached Puerto Rico through the University of Puerto Rico's Agricultural Experiment Station: Limaní and Frontón. Limaní comes from a cross of the Timor Hybrid with Villa Sarchí (a "Sarchimor" type), and Frontón from the Timor Hybrid with Caturra (a "Catimor" type). In the Station's trials they performed better on the island than the Bourbon, Caturra and Pacas varieties.
Sources describe their route differently. A 2021 University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez study says Brazil's Instituto Agronômico de Campinas supplied them. The Experiment Station's own rust study describes them as lines from Portugal's Coffee Rust Research Centre (CIFC), evaluated at the Station's Adjuntas substation.
The varieties arrived seven years before the disease. Coffee leaf rust, caused by the fungus Hemileia vastatrix, was detected in Puerto Rico in February 1989.
Hurricane Georges, 1998
On 21 September 1998, Hurricane Georges crossed the length of Puerto Rico with winds of 110 to 130 mph. A report from the Long Term Ecological Research Network, published in November 1998, estimated that about 70 percent of the coffee crop was destroyed, along with 90 percent of banana and plantain fields.
Hurricane María, 2017
Hurricane María struck Puerto Rico on 20 September 2017 as a Category 4 storm, with sustained winds of 155 mph. Two sources give its toll on coffee:
- Puerto Rico's coffee law, Ley 78 of 27 July 2019, states that about 18 million coffee trees were destroyed, equal to 80 percent of the coffee trees standing before the hurricanes.
- World Coffee Research, as reported by the U.S. Forest Service, estimates that Puerto Rico had about 18,000 acres in coffee before the hurricanes, and that 80 percent of mature coffee-producing shrubs were lost.
The full account is in Hurricane Maria and the Coffee Industry (2017).
Rebuilding
Coffee shrubs growing beneath taller shade trees in Puerto Rico. USDA Forest Service photo, published 2019. Public domain.
Replanting depended on seedlings. In the 2018–19 season, 669 farmers received 1,044,100 coffee seedlings through Puerto Rico's Department of Agriculture, according to a Primera Hora report quoting the Department. The same report put the number of seedlings needed over three years at about 18 million. Non-profit partners also took part; their work is described in Coffee Revitalization: Hispanic Federation, Nespresso, and Puerto Rico's Recovery.
Ley 78 of 2019 created the Oficina de Cafés de Puerto Rico, the government office for the coffee sector. In 2022, Hurricane Fiona struck again; see Hurricane Fiona (2022).
In 2023 a four-year project called Café del Futuro began. The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded the $15 million grant to NCBA CLUSA under its Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities programme, and NCBA CLUSA carries out the project with Productores de Café de Puerto Rico (PROCAFÉ). It promotes shade and agroforestry practices on coffee farms.
Puerto Rico Coffee Today
A coffee bush in bloom beside an orange tree on a hillside farm in Maricao, Puerto Rico. Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region, Public domain
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 2,983 coffee farms on 18,961 cuerdas, up from 2,292 farms on 13,283 cuerdas in the 2018 census, which was taken in the year after María. The farms harvested 53,940 hundredweight of coffee in 2022, and coffee sales came to about $18.2 million from 2,449 farms.
The Library of Congress film below, made by Russell Oliver, who received a 2022 Community Collections Grant from the American Folklife Center, follows today's coffee farmers.
Watch: El Motor: Coffee and the Heart of Puerto Rico — Library of Congress
Key Facts
- Commonwealth constitution in effect: 25 July 1952
- Coffee farms, 1959: 22,963 on 183,430 cuerdas
- Limaní and Frontón introduced: 1982
- Coffee leaf rust detected: February 1989
- Hurricane Georges: 21 September 1998; about 70% of the coffee crop destroyed
- Hurricane María: 20 September 2017; about 18 million coffee trees lost, 80% of those standing
- Oficina de Cafés de Puerto Rico: created by Ley 78-2019
- Café del Futuro: $15 million USDA grant to NCBA CLUSA, with PROCAFÉ, from 2023
- Coffee farms, 2022: 2,983 on 18,961 cuerdas
Sources
- United States Code, 48 U.S.C., editorial note on the effective date of the Constitution of Puerto Rico (25 July 1952). Supports: the date the Commonwealth constitution took effect.
- U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1959 Census of Agriculture: Puerto Rico, Chapter B, Table 19 (figures for 1959 and 1949). Supports: coffee farms, area and harvest in 1959 and 1949.
- Badillo-Chico, Paola N., Evaluation of genetic diversity and resistance genes of two rust-resistant coffee varieties, Limani and Fronton, M.S. thesis, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, June 2021. Supports: the 1982 introduction via the Agricultural Experiment Station; the parentage of both varieties; their performance against Bourbon, Caturra and Pacas.
- Rodríguez et al., study of coffee leaf rust resistance, Journal of Agriculture of the University of Puerto Rico. Supports: detection of rust in Puerto Rico in February 1989; CIFC introductions T-5175 and T-8667 (Catimor and Sarchimor types) evaluated at the Adjuntas substation and later named Frontón and Limaní.
- Long Term Ecological Research Network, report on Hurricane Georges, LTER Network News, 9 November 1998. Supports: the date and winds of Georges; about 70 percent of the coffee crop destroyed.
- Rama Judicial de Puerto Rico, 2018 report on Hurricanes Irma and María. Supports: María as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 155 mph.
- Ley Núm. 78 de 27 de julio de 2019, Ley de la "Oficina de Cafés de Puerto Rico", statement of motives and Chapter 1. Supports: about 18 million coffee trees destroyed, equal to 80 percent; creation of the Oficina de Cafés de Puerto Rico.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, "Forest Service Helps Small Farmers Hit Hard by Hurricanes", USDA blog, 20 September 2019. Supports: the World Coffee Research estimates of about 18,000 acres in coffee and an 80 percent loss of mature shrubs; the photograph of shade-grown coffee.
- Primera Hora, "La unidad ha sido clave para recuperar el café en la Isla". Supports: 1,044,100 seedlings to 669 farmers in 2018–19; the estimate of 18 million seedlings needed over three years.
- NCBA CLUSA, project pages and announcements for Café del Futuro (Puerto Rico Climate-Smart Coffee). Supports: the $15 million USDA grant, the start in 2023, the four-year term, and the partnership with PROCAFÉ. Programme reporting by the implementing organisation.
- USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2022 Census of Agriculture: Puerto Rico, Table 44 (Coffee: 2022 and 2018) and Island Summary. Supports: farms, cuerdas and harvest in 2022 and 2018; coffee sales in 2022.
- Stefano, Michelle, "Homegrown Foodways Film Premiere: El Motor: Coffee and the Heart of Puerto Rico", Folklife Today, Library of Congress (2025). Supports: the film by Russell Oliver and its American Folklife Center grant.
Claims this encyclopedia could not source
The following statements appear in published material about Puerto Rican coffee since 1950. This encyclopedia could not trace them to a reliable source:
- That well-known Puerto Rican coffee brands emerged in the 1950s and 1960s.
- That Puerto Ricans drink more coffee per capita than most Americans.
- That the Limaní variety became widely planted in the 1990s.
- That a specific coffee leaf rust outbreak in 2012 devastated Puerto Rican farms. Rust has been present on the island since 1989.
- That post-María replanting used the Obatã variety and "improved Caturra".
- That Puerto Rican coffee is now mostly specialty grade, and that the island's own market absorbs most production at premium prices.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is Puerto Rican coffee recovering from Hurricane María? The farm census shows growth since then: 2,983 coffee farms on 18,961 cuerdas in 2022, against 2,292 farms on 13,283 cuerdas in 2018.
Q: What is the Limaní variety? A rust-resistant coffee variety of the "Sarchimor" type, a cross of the Timor Hybrid with Villa Sarchí, introduced to Puerto Rico in 1982 together with Frontón.
Q: When did coffee leaf rust reach Puerto Rico? It was detected in February 1989, seven years after the rust-resistant varieties arrived.
Q: How much coffee did Hurricane María destroy? About 18 million coffee trees, 80 percent of those standing, according to Puerto Rico's Ley 78-2019. World Coffee Research also estimates an 80 percent loss of mature coffee shrubs.
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