COLOMBIA will double aid to coffee growers in the next four years, aiming to boost its top export and make existing bean yields more efficient.

Growers, researchers and vendors would receive 1.4 trillion pesos (US$706 million) in cash, credits and farm supplies between 2008 and 2011, to help double coffee exports and increase total output by 37 percent, officials said on Tuesday.

Two-thirds of the assistance would come from government coffers, and the rest from the National Coffee Growers Federation, under the plan.

Coffee is Colombia's top agricultural export, generating about 3.5 million jobs. The plan calls for production to increase more than a third to 17 million 60-kilogram sacks a year, and for specialty-bean exports to double to 2 million 60-kilogram sacks a year.