Pre-monsoon showers improve prospects for next coffee crop

The timely arrival of pre-monsoon showers in the coffee growing regions has brought cheers to the planters even as lakhs of growers across the country have been affected by unseasonal showers.

Rainfall over the past few weeks in the country’s key coffee-growing regions of Kodagu, Chikmagalur and Hassan in Karnataka has brightened the prospects for the next crop starting October.

“Blossom showers and subsequent backing showers were like made to order this year. The rain has given us hope of a good crop this year,” said Bose Mandanna, a large coffee grower at Suntikoppa near Madikeri in Kodagu.

Robusta prospects The pre-monsoon rain is crucial for coffee as it helps flower buds to blossom.

Similarly, backing showers that come after a gap of 18 days following blossom showers help in the fruit development and retention.

“Pre-monsoon showers have been very good and most part of the coffee areas has received rains. Crop prospects, especially that of Robusta, looks good as of now but all depends on the monsoon rainfall,”said Y Raghuramulu, Director, Central Coffee Researh Institute, Balehonnur.

The Coffee Board is expected to come out with the first estimate or the post-blossom estimates some time in May.

Borer scare However, the only challenge that Arabica growers are facing is the white stem borer (WSB) menace.

“The WSB flare-up is very bad this year too. Even plants that were planted two years ago have been killed by the borers,” Mandanna said.

WSB is reported to be responsible for an estimated loss of about half a million plants each year, resulting in crop loss of about 1,500 tonnes per annum. The flight period of the borer beetles has started now and the situation is better than last year, Raghuramulu said.

The WSB has two flight periods in April-May and October-December, during which the beetles emerge from the affected stems and infest other plants. The CCRI has developed a package to control WSB, which growers said was too labourious.

The CCRI is trying to popularise the concept of killing the borer beetles in the affected plants before their emergence to prevent the spread of infestation.

“We are in talks with various growers association to create awareness,” Raghuramulu said, adding that largescale trials for the WSB control package were likely to be taken up during the October-December period.

Balance sheet For the current 2014-15 season, the Coffee Board, in its post monsoon estimates, has pegged the crop size at 3.31 lakh tonnes, some 8.7 per cent higher than last year's final estimate of 3.04 lakh tonnes.

Arabica output is pegged at 99,600 tonnes, while Robusta is pegged at 2.31 lakh tonnes.

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