Joint task force will be set in the state: Suresh Prabhu

Bengaluru: Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday, November 1 informed that the Commerce Ministry in collaboration with the Karnataka government will set up a joint task force to respond to the queries of the flood-hit coffee growers.

The minister, addressing the 60th Annual Conference of the Karnataka Planters Association (KPA) through a web conference said that he has already spoken to Chief Minister Kumaraswamy as in how to deal with the issues faced by the Kodagu, Chikmagaluru and Hassan district coffee growers who have been impacted by the floods and landslides in the month of August.

Prabhu provided an assurance that the Commerce Ministry would do anything possible to help the coffee growers overcome the problems faced by them.

As many as 20,000 of coffee growers in Kodagu have lost about 70 per cent of their crop due to the recent floods.  As much as 40 per cent of India’s coffee is grown in Karnataka. 

Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Gowda speaking on the occasion said that the demand for organic coffee is increasing day by day. Association president H.T. Pramod was also present.