Kampala, July 29 - Coffee Wilt disease could cut Uganda's coffee output by 35 percent in 2008/09 (Oct-Sept) and slash earnings by $150 million, an official of the government's Kituuza Coffee Research Center said on Tuesday.
"According to our research on the epidemic curve of the Coffee Wilt disease, soon it will hit the farms because the farmers have used susceptible materials which cannot be protected from an outbreak," said Kangire Africano, Director of Uganda's Kituuza Coffee Research Center.
"We expect a 35 percent reduction in production and the country will lose $150 million in export revenues."