Rains in November dampen coffee output

Unseasonal rains in the last week of November have adversely affected the coffee harvest in Karnataka. Availability of coffee parchment and washed coffee (green coffee) of both the arabica and robusta varieties is likely to be affected.

Rains lashed the coffee growing districts of Kodagu, Hassan and Chikmagalur in the last two weeks of November. Many areas received 4-5 cm of rain. Cloudy weather for over two weeks has affected harvest and post-harvest activities.

“The sudden change in climatic conditions in the coffee growing regions during harvest time has hampered picking as well as drying of the arabica crop,” said B L Harish, a farm gate coffee trader.

Parchment coffee consists of coffee beans which are dried in the sun after being extracted from the cherry through a wet milling process.

The beans are referred to as ‘coffee parchment’ because of a thin, white, parchment-like coating on their exteriors. ‘Green coffee’ is obtained after the removal of the parchment. This can be stored or directly shipped to a roaster.

“Due to incessant rains and no sunlight in the coffee growing regions, growers have no place to dry the harvested cherry and the beans after wet milling process. As a result, beans split and change colour to blackish brown. This can adversely affect the price offered for the crop,” Harish added.

This has led to many small growers directly selling their harvest at discounted prices as they are unable to dry it.

In a normal coffee year, Indian coffee production is at around 260,000 tonnes; of this, arabica accounts for 90,000 tonnes with robusta forming the rest. Of the total arabica production, 45,000-50,000 tonnes of parchment and washed coffee is typically available for the export market, after the formalities of processing.

“Due to unseasonal rains, availability of arabica coffee parchment and washed coffees will drop to the extent of 10-15 per cent. The trade expects 40,000-45,000 tonnes to be available for export. This is likely to impact prices during the January-February season when the crop enters the market and exports take off in a big way,” said Bola Damodar Kamath, managing partner of Mangalore-based coffee exporter Bola Surendra Kamath and Sons.