Fall in coffee crop: Financial transitions take a hit in Kodagu

Madikeri: The last year’s torrential rains have caused enough damage for the coffee crop to nearly bite the dust. Close to 60% of the crop has been destroyed. With only a few bags of coffee, this time even the big cultivators are facing financial problems.

Due to the incessant rains, Madikeri taluk’s many farms and cultivations were ripped off by the floods. The state of the few remaining farms is miserable and of the recent years, this year’s crop is the least, say the saddened cultivators.

Coffee and black pepper are the major commercial crops at various locations here including Kakkabbe, Naladi, Galibedu and Makkandur which has suffered complete destruction because of the natural calamity. In these regions, only 6-7 bags of the crop are available for per acre of land.  

In the previous years, the coffee crop used to be shipped in trucks, but presently, the coffee beans packed in bags is being transported by the estate owners in their very own jeeps. Earlier, where 24 workers used to collect 40 bags of coffee beans are now collecting only a mere 14 bags, lament cultivators