STiR coffee and tea magazine

50 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 2, 2017 (April/May) C M Y CM MY CY CMY K The city of Piraju, where Capricornio Coffees has estab- lished one of its offices, was a train stop on the Sorocabana route. The train station there began operations in 1906. One year later, electric trams were introduced for local transporta- tion and hydroelectric plants supplied electricity to the city. This investment was necessary to meet the needs of a growing cof- fee economy in 1913, the year that the US President Theodore Roosevelt visited the city. Across the border, Paraná state had a glorious past in coffee until the great "black" frost destroyed all the coffee plants and forced producers to migrate to Minas Gerais in the 1970s. In Brazil coffee frosts usually occur in the south. June, July, and August are the coldest parts of the year in Brazil. During the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, frost drove volatility in the coffee market, while drought was an afterthought. Years later, with drought and warmer temperatures becom- ing the big concerns, the south is more inviting to grower. Culti- vation has increased little by little until today the Norte Pioneiro region is home of 7,500 coffee producers. Its 45 municipalities produce more than 1 million bags per year. One of the biggest accomplishments for these producers is the geographical indication (GI) designation in 2012. Now, with an official certificate, the production processes and orgin of cof- fee in this region can avoid possible falsifications. Until 2012, Cerrado Mineiro and Serra da Mantiqueira were the only regions with these official recognitions. A collaborative work between farmers, research institutions, and government made this achievement possible. The ongoing work keeps procedures that guide farmers' and traders' work in the region. Now, with its climate-friendly cof- fee regions, this can be the hot spot for specialty coffee in the next years. Sorocabana and Norte Pioneiro Brazil has been the world's largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years, supplying as much as 80% of the world's coffee in the 1880s. Pioneers at that time, both Sorocabana and Norte Pionerio contributed to Brazil's dominance. Development of railways in Sorocabana in 1875 was a milestone in the industrial revolution in Brazil and helped to transport great quantities of agricultural goods during that period. Cotton was king in those days, but in time the coffee led to the creation of new stations leading to Botcatu, along the Soro- cabana Railways as it crossed the countryside of São Paulo state and Paraná connecting the Mato Grosso do Sul states. Black Frost Common white or "singeing" frost that "burns" the topmost branches will hurt the coffee plant and its next crop but the plant will fully recover with the right care. "Black frost" known as geadas negras, is more difficult to identify as the coffee plant is not frozen by subzero temperatures, but rather affected by the combined effect of wind and temperatures from 2-5 °C, and may never recover, according to CoffeeResearch.org. Even when a severe frost occurs it only does permanent dam- age if it immediately follows a rain period when the tree's leaves and trunk are still wet, according to Maxine Margolis, with the Department of Anthropology at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Water in the trunk's cells cause them to rupture from the expansion and eventually the trunk splits. In her 1979 paper Green Gold and Ice, she writes that "On a bitterly cold night in late July, 1975 the temperatre plumeted below freezing for a number of hours in the coffee zone of the southern Brazilian state of Paraná. Several days later it was reported that 70% of the region' coffee was destroyed and an undetermined number of coffee trees were killed during the frost — purportedly the worst within living memory." Black frosts in 1870, 1902, 1918, and 1943 greatly reduced the size of subsequent harvests for as long as three years. In 1918 pro- duction declined from 12.5 million bags in 1917/18 to 7.2 milion bag in 1918/19 down to and 4.1 million bags in 1919/20, writes Margolis. Capricornio partner, from left, José Antônio Rezende, Edgard Bressani, and Luiz Saldanha.

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