India’s Arabica production has hit an all-time low this coffee-picking season, which commenced a fortnight ago.
Coffee Board chairman M.S. Boje Gowda said this year’s Arabica yield would fall more than 50% after the torrential rains, floods and landslides during August-September last year washed away a sizeable chunk of plantations and destroyed coffee plants in Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Kodagu and Wayanad districts.
“Plantations were hit by heavy rains, floods and landslides. The entire top soil got washed away. Farmers didn’t have funds to maintain their gardens or buy manure. [So], the crop is poor and the quantity too low this season,’’ he said.
Most Arabica farmers are reporting a production decline of 50%, while the exact size of the output for this year will be known by end of January. Five years ago, India’s Arabica production was 1.5 lakh tonnes. It fell to 80,000 tonnes last year, he said. H.T. Pramod, former president, Karnataka Planters’ Association and a Chikkamagaluru farmer, said, “This is the worst Arabica crop we have seen. The berry quantity per plant is too low. We used to get at least 300 kg of parchment coffee per acre. We are getting only some 100 kg this season.’’
