DJones - Uganda's Coffee Output Seen Up 10% Due to Good Weather - UCDA 10/10/2012

DJones - Uganda's Coffee Output Seen Up 10% Due to Good Weather - UCDA   KAMPALA, Uganda--Uganda's 2012-13 coffee output is expected to rebound by atleast 10% on the year, aided by good weather conditions, the state-run UgandaCoffee Development Authority said Thursday.   UCDA said in a report that the country's coffee output is expected to reach 3million 60-kilogram bags, compared with the 2.72 million bags produced duringthe 2011-12 season. Uganda's coffee season runs from October to September thefollowing year.   "The harvests are cyclic in nature and following a disappointing harvest lastseason, the next harvest is expected to improve," a UCDA trade official toldDow Jones Newswires.   Uganda is Africa's largest coffee exporter, according to the InternationalCoffee Organization.   UCDA's forecast is in line with the projection of the national coffeefarmers' body Nucafe issued last month. According to David Muwonge, the head ofproduction and marketing with Nucafe, the main coffee regions in the east andcentral Uganda have received timely and well distributed rains in the pastthree months, helping the crop to recover from drought experienced last yearand earlier this year.   The harvesting season in the east and central regions is expected to startbefore the end of October. The two regions account for at least 55% of thecountry's total coffee output.   Uganda endured one of its worst coffee seasons in recent years during 2011-12after a severe drought hurt yields from the main coffee harvest in the centraland eastern regions.   Coffee is Uganda's leading export crop and the country's second leadingforeign revenue earner after tourism.   During the 2010-11 season, Uganda exported 3.15 million bags of coffee.Robustas account for more than 80% of the country's total coffee output.