Karnataka coffee growers lost 35% of their crop due to heavy rain seek for relief.
The biggest group of plantation crop growers, the Karnataka Planters Association (KPA), says that they lost 35% of their crops because of the heavy rains in July and August.
They have asked the Central and State Governments to help the affected growers. It also wants the bankers to pay attention to the damage and change the terms of the loans to help the growers.
Since July 1, 2022, Chikmagalur, Kodagu, Hassan, and Chamarajanagar, which grow plantation crops, have been hit by heavy rains. Also Read | Karnataka Coffee farmers worried over 15% loss of their crops to heavy rain.
How much damage?
Heavy rains make it hard for people to live normally in plantations. The coffee plants are stuck in low-lying areas where water has stopped moving and steam is overflowing. In a statement, KPA chairman N. Ramanathan said that heavy rains and strong winds had hurt the coffee plants and caused trees to fall. Over the course of a few days, it rained a lot. The amount of rain in July and August was 26% more than the average amount of rain for those months.
Due to too much rain, the coffee berry droppings at an estate in Chikmagalur have gone bad.
‘The heavy rains have done a lot of damage to the coffee crop, coffee plants, and infrastructure on the estate. The coffee berries have turned black and fallen off, so the crop is gone and the quality of the coffee that is still growing on the plants has gone down. The coffee plants have diseases that cause the stalks to rot and the roots to rot. The coffee crop, coffee plants, and estate infrastructure as a whole will be damaged by more than 35%, the KPA chairman’ said.
Requests that were made
‘The Coffee Board and the State Departments of Revenue and Horticulture should look at the damaged areas and figure out how much damage there is. Ramanathan said We want the State Government to recognize Chikmagalur, Kodagu, Hassan, and Chamarajnagar as flood-affected areas.’
Also Read | Excessive & constant rains in Karnataka likely to impact negatively on the coffee harvest.
In the last few years, the monsoon rains have been heavier than usual in the plantation districts of Karnataka, which grow about 70% of India’s coffee crop.
‘We also ask the Central and State Governments to help the plantation growers who have been hurt. The KPA Chairman said that banks should pay attention to the damage, restructure the loan accounts, and help the coffee farmers who have been affected.’
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