SAO PAULO, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The two-year robusta

coffee rally to record high prices last week has given investors

and farmers a rush for that variety in the world's top coffee

grower Brazil, experts said.

Brazil has traditionally been the largest producer of

arabica coffee, a milder variety preferred by high-end

cafeterias such as Starbucks ( SBUX ). However, production of robusta,

widely used to make instant coffee, has been rapidly growing

with high demand and good prices.

"People were already planting more robusta, but with the

recent spike in prices it got crazy," said Enrique Alves, a

coffee researcher at Brazil's agricultural research company

Embrapa in the northern state of Rondonia.

"Robusta seedling producers told me they are at the limit of

their production capacity and are not taking new orders," he

said.

Robusta futures on ICE Europe rose 58% in 2023 from

2022 and are 68% up this year. The main driver is production

problems in Vietnam, the world's largest robusta grower, where

unfavorable weather hurt the crops.

As a result, foreign demand for Brazilian robustas has

soared. Exports have risen more than 300% this year when

compared with the same time in 2023. Prices for robusta in the

local market surpassed those for arabica coffee, which is not

typical.

Farmers in the top robusta state of Espirito Santo are

replacing arabica trees with robusta ones in some places, said

Fabiano Tristao, a coffee researcher at Incaper institute.

"Conilons are climbing the mountains," he said, referring to

a similar type of robusta cultivated in the region which is

being planted in higher altitude areas traditionally used to

grow arabica.

Robusta acreage in the state has grown 14% since 2018, while

arabica crops are down 18%, data from Brazil crop supply agency

Conab showed.

Robusta plantings have also increased in other traditional

arabica states such as Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo, experts said.