Using High Doses of Agrochemicals, Coffee Farmers in Southern Mexico Imperil Their Health Adriana Alcazar - Global Press Journal
go to original July 8, 2015

Four million people in Central America and southern Mexico rely on coffee for their living, and coffee rust is a major threat. (Janet Jarman/The New York Times)

Touching leaves of his coffee plants with his dark hands, Marcelino Santis explains that a rust fungus has spread through his crop with unusual strength.

"Now the plague is stronger, tougher; it won't give in," says Santis, 60, who farms a plantation in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. "And, it is infecting other coffee seedlings little by little."

On the recommendation of his neighbors, Santis has increased the dosage of agrochemicals he applies to his coffee plants to avoid losing a great part of his crop, which he will harvest between November and February 2016.

The chemicals are hurting his health.

"I put a handkerchief on my face, on my nose," Santis says. "It's that (the agrochemical) is very strong. Sometimes one feels dizzy, or wants to throw up."

Santis is one of many indigenous coffee growers in the area putting their health at risk in an all-out battle to save their crops.

The intensity of the 2015 rust plague has spurred many organic coffee growers in the region to adopt conventional agricultural techniques. Those who were already using agrochemicals are increasing the dosage. All are desperate to save their harvests - their primary or sole source of income.

Their health suffers because they are applying these massive doses without the necessary equipment and training.

Read the rest at Global Press Journal

Translated by Fernanda Font

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