The Hindu Business Line : Labour shortage continues to bug coffee estates

Rough patch
Robusta harvest, which should have got over or should be at the ending stage, has been prolonged due to non-availability of labour.
The problem of labour persists since workers prefer to work in infrastructure projects rather than in plantation.

M.R. Subramani

Chennai, March 11 Coffee estates continue to be affected by labour shortage that has delayed harvest and arrivals.

“Labour is mainly required during December-April. But over the past couple of years, we have been witnessing labour shortage and compared to last year, things are bad this year,” said Mr Bose Mandanna, a grower from Kodagu district in Karnataka and former vice-chairman of the Coffee Board.

“There is a severe labour shortage this year in the coffee plantations. Compared with last year, it could be 25 per cent less this year,” said Mr A.K. Bhandari, former president of the United Planters Association of Southern India (Upasi).

“There is not enough labour to pick and dry coffee in the estates. Growers are finding it difficult to find labour for the job. This has slackened arrivals,” said Mr Ramesh Rajah, President, Coffee Exporters Association.

Though arabica harvest is over, it was delayed by three weeks in view of the labour shortage. Robusta harvest, which should have got over or should be at the ending stage now, has been prolonged due to non-availability of labour.

The problem of labour persists since workers prefer to work in infrastructure projects rather than in plantation.

“We pay them Rs 80 a day as salary and then other benefits such as bonus, provident fund, gratuity, rations total up to Rs 130 a day. On the other hand, the workers get Rs 100 a day as cash in hand if they work in infrastructure projects. The prefer the latter since they get paid every evening,” said a planter.

wages

According to Mr Mandanna, labour wages make up 65 per cent of the input cost for coffee. “Arabica is a labour-intensive crop since we need labour to check white stem borer and spray pesticide to avoid leaf rust disease. In comparison, robusta doesn’t need much labour. The way things are heading with regard to labour problem, the prospects for arabica do not look good,” he said.

“Labour shortage is being reported from almost across all coffee estates. It doesn’t seem to be a problem confined to any single area,” said Mr Rajah.

The slackened arrivals have not, however, affected the trade, particularly exports.

A couple of weeks ago, stalemate was reported in coffee exports but it was mainly due to global prices shooting up and the entire trade getting in a “wait and watch” mode.

“There was some sort of stalemate in exports due to volatility in the global market,” said Mr Bhandari. “Things are better and will improve as prices look to stabilise,” he said.

According to Mr Mandanna, some of the growers had sold their stocks as the prices shot up in the global market.

In New York, arabica prices touched 175 cents a pound, while robustas in London touched $2,750 a tonne. “Prices have declined during the last two sessions but they are still good,” Mr Mandanna said.

Arabica for delivery in March was quoted at 148.25 cents a pound, while robusta at $2,505 a tonne.

Farmgate prices here on Tuesday for arabica parchment were quoted at Rs 4,900-25 per 50-kg bag against Rs 5,500 last week. For robusta cherry, the prices were Rs 2,275-2,325 against Rs 2,500 last week.

Meanwhile, at least 20 per cent of the robusta and 80 per cent of the Arabica crop is waiting for pre-monsoon shower. The rest of the crop is looking for follow-up showers after receiving good rainfall last month as development of the spikes depends on it. Actually, follow-up showers are needed after three weeks but the lack of showers until now is unlikely to affect the crop. This is since most of the growers have resorted to irrigating their crops, particularly robusta.

Production

This crop year (November 2007-October 2008), coffee production is estimated at 2.62 lakh tonnes against 2.91 lakh tonnes last year. Exports, on the other hand, are provisionally down at 45,587 tonnes during January 1-March 10 against 47,283 tonnes a year ago.

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