Coffee output may drop 24%

Late pre-blossom showers hit cultivating regions in South India

India’s Coffee production for 2010-11 is likely to be lower than normal due to the delayed and inadequate pre-blossom showers across the growing regions in south India. The rainfall during February and March was lower than normal this year in growing areas of Karnataka while it was fairly satisfactory in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This is likely to result in a drop of around 24 per cent in the coffee output this year to around 220,000 tonnes, industry sources said.

According to Coffee Board, the domestic coffee output for 2009-10 was 289,600 tonnes as per the revised post-blossom estimates and it may be revised further as many growers are yet to sell their entire produce for the year, industry sources said.

The growers are yet to pick up the gleanings (coffee fruit found lying on the ground beneath coffee bushes, detached during harvest) from their gardens. Once they collect all of that the exact production for the last year will be known, K M Nanaiah, chairman, Karnataka Planters’ Association, said.

“There was no rain in February and March throughout south India and as a result of this, Robusta crop is likely to suffer. However, close to 60 per cent of the coffee growing areas under Robusta is irrigated. So, we can be assured of around 60 per cent of the last year’s output, which is about 120,000 tonnes at this juncture. But, the Arabica crop, which is fully dependent on rainfall, is affected. About 40 per cent of the area under Arabica is partially affected due to inadequate moisture, while 30 per cent of the area received fairly satisfactory rain while another 30 per cent received no rain till the second week of April,” Nanaiah told Business Standard.

Nanaiah said, after March 15, there was sporadic rain in some areas; so natural fruit setting is yet to be established. Flowering is over across all growing areas. After April 15 there were rains in all growing areas across south India. “We have to wait and see until the Coffee Board completes its pre-blossom survey for the likely size of the crop this year,” he said. The Coffee Board is expected to come out with pre-blossom estimates by end of May.

However, industry sources estimate that going by the present rainfall and moisture levels, the coffee crop for the present year could be in the region of 220,000 tonnes, which is about 24 per cent less than last year.

Normally, the coffee crop requires 1-1.25 cm of rain for Robusta and 2-2.5 cm of rain for Arabica during the pre-blossom period. Within 20 days a back-up shower of 1 cm is be ideal for fruit setting and development. Whereas, this year, it was nowhere near the normal and, both Robusta and Arabica crops have suffered from inadequate precipitation levels, he added.