San Salvador, June 3 - Gourmet coffee growers in El Salvador, recovering from a 2005 volcano blast that hurled hot lava rocks and ash onto their crops, say the now nutrient-rich volcanic soil is a big help.
The Ilamatepec volcano, also known as Santa Ana, caused significant crop losses when it erupted and thousands were evacuated, fleeing from a flood of boiling mud and water.
But farmers now growing their coffee near the crater of the still-active volcano say their yields are increasing quickly.
Several farmers who suffered damages from the eruption have been selected for the annual Cup of Excellence auction set for this week in San Salvador.
Ilamatepec is the largest of El Salvador's 23 volcanoes and the strictly hard bean arabica grown on its slopes is prized by gourmet buyers.
Fifth-generation coffee grower Roberto Ulloa, 49, has his farm more than 5,400 feet (1,650 meters) above sea level in the area of Palo Campana, where two persons died in a landslide caused by the blast and as many as 20,000 people had to flee their homes.
Ulloa said he had been renovating his property by planting new areas and replacing old trees when the explosion hit.
"The ash ... set us back a year," he said.
The volcano erupted less than two months before the harvest, and growers lost 26,800 60-kg bag of coffee in the 2005/6 season. But the real blow came a year later as trees that were covered in ash failed to flower. Volcanic ash can carry levels of sulfur lethal to plants.
The damage to the 2006/7 harvest topped 60,000 60-kg bags, according to a top agronomist in the country.
But once trees recover foliage, growers often see record crops thanks to the nutrients added to the soil.
"This is part of nature's recovery process. (The ash) can help improve the soil and increase fertility," said Salvador Urrutia of Procafe, a coffee investigation foundation in the Central American country.
Procafe is in the middle of a six-year study to find out in more detail how volcanic ash in the soil affects the coffee crop, said Urrutia.
But for now, producers like Ulloa who were set back by the eruption are relieved their high-quality beans made it to this year's auction, and hope their lots will beat the high price last year of $15.55 per lb.