* March exports seen at 180,000 bags
* Bad weather weighs on production
KAMPALA, - Uganda, Africa's second-biggest coffee exporter, expects sales to drop 17 percent in March compared with a year ago as the season tails off and due to poor weather, a source at the industry regulator said on Wednesday.
The east African grower exported 217,809 60-kg bags in March 2010 and could sell 180,000 bags this month, the fourth such drop in sales in a row, an official at the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) said.
"The season is winding down in eastern and central Uganda and obviously the yields have been declining over the last two months," a UCDA official said.
The two regions account for 55 percent of Uganda's total annual coffee output while the south and southwest, which are due to start harvesting, contribute 45 percent.
"Secondly, the impact of the dry weather that has been going on for several months has been escalating in many parts of the coffee growing areas and we're starting to see it manifest in yields."*****
