Coffee planters shift to robusta variety as pests attack arabica

Coffee planters are slowly moving away from cultivating the arabica variety of coffee on the back of reducing productivity due to pest and disease attacks. The robusta variety has replaced arabica due to its lower susceptibility to diseases and higher productivity.

“Robusta is slowly replacing arabica as the latter’s output is being affected due to a white stem borer attack on the crop. As arabica is the superior quality coffee in comparison to robusta and fetches higher price in the international market, any drop in the cultivated area of arabica will have a negative impact on the coffee industry,” said Sahadev Balakrishna, president of the Karnataka Planters’ Association.

As per data available with the Coffee Board, the area under arabica variety has fallen to 48 per cent of the total planted area in 2010-11 from around 73 per cent in 1950-51. Similarly, the area under robusta has increased from 27 per cent of the total cultivated area in 1950-51 to 52 per cent in 2010-11, indicating constant migration from arabica to robusta.

In 2010-11, while the area under arabica stood at 193,155 ha, constituting 48 per cent of the total area under coffee, it was 206,646 ha under robusta (52per cent). “India is one of the significant arabica producers of Asia, excluding Indonesia. So, any drop in production will reduce export revenue for the country, along with lower earnings for coffee planters,” he said.

Usually, arabica fetches double the value of robusta in both the domestic and the international market. While arabica parchment costs around Rs 10,200 per 50 kg, it is around Rs 4,650-Rs 4,900 per 50 kg in case of robusta. So, any drop in production will reduce the income of planters in the country. Also, any significant drop in production due to reduced area may force the country to import arabica coffee in the future.

A Coffee Board official said the shift in production pattern was happening mostly in Karnataka. “The past 10 years’ trend shows the ratio between arabica and robusta’s cultivated area stands at 48:52 and is not changing much. So, the situation is not alarming,” a Karnataka-based planter said.