Coffee growers unhappy over relief package

The United Planters' Association of Southern India (Upasi) and Karnataka Planters' Association (KPA) have expressed concern over discussions of dividing relief package between small growers and large growers.

The central government, early this year, initiated moves to help the coffee industry with Special Coffee Term Loan (SCTL) package and the Prime Minister Relief Package.

According to the industry officials, heated debate is on in the political circles that this relief package should benefit small growers as the large ones can afford to take care of themselves.

Supporters of large growers are arguing that they employ more number of workers in their plantation and hence relief package should be aimed at them to save the labourers.

Addressing Karnataka Planters' Association's (KPA) 48th annual general meeting, J K Thomas, president Upasi, said "We understand the populist and political compulsions behind some of the pronouncements being made about which kind of grower should benefit. This is being done both for coffee and tea and Upasi is strongly of the view that this is an extremely dangerous and counter productive point of view."

He added that it must be clearly understood by the policy makers in Delhi and the state capitals that the coffee industry is far from healthy and such distinctions should be avoided in disbursal of relief package.

"The basic idea of government assistance to the crippled industry is not merely to give two spoons of water to a person dying of thirst, but the basic intention should be to do whatever is possible with resources available to nurse the industry back to health," he added.

In India, 98 per cent of all coffee growers are small growers, and their share of the total coffee crop is small. The other 2 per cent grow more than 40 per cent of the crop and employ bulk of the organised labour numbering nearly four lakh of more than five lakh total labour employed in coffee plantations in India.

A significant proportion of the 98 per cent of small growers are Robusta producers while it is evident that the crisis of the last six years impacted and still continues to impact Arabica producer, majorly produced by large growers. Industry officials highlighted that this is another fact on which the debate is being fuelled.

"So those who seek to exclude the 2 per cent large growers while formulating a solution for rescue or stabilisation will be doing great damage to a larger number of Arabica producers of this country. Such shortsightedness would eventually bring an end to India's Arabica production," cautioned Thomas.