Coffee regions in Vietnam soaked by heavy rain as harvest starts

(Oct 28): Tropical Storm Trami has dumped heavy rain across some parts of Vietnam’s key coffee-growing region, just as the world’s biggest producer of robusta starts harvesting beans. The provinces of Gia Lai and Kon Tum in the Central Highlands bore the brunt of the downpour, with some areas getting as much as 160 millimetres (six inches) of rain since Saturday, according to the local weather bureau. Vietnam’s coffee harvest typically runs from October to April. Trinh Duc Minh, the chairman of the Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Association in Dak Lak province — which has the biggest area of coffee plants — said the group was still gathering information from farmers on the impact of rains. Only about 7% of farms in Dak Lak have started harvesting beans, he added. Trami made landfall north of Da Nang on Sunday, days after the storm hit the Philippines, where it caused widespread flooding and killed at least 116 people. Vietnam is still reeling from the impact of Super Typhoon Yagi, which ...