HOME   
   NEWS   
   BUSINESS   
   CRICKET   
   SPORTS   
   MOVIES   
   NET GUIDE   
   SHOPPING   
   BLOGS  
   ASTROLOGY  
   MATCHMAKER  


Search:



The Web

Rediff









Business
Portfolio Tracker
Business News
Specials
Columns
Market Report
Mutual Funds
Interviews
Tutorials
Message Board
Stock Talk
Press Releases



Home > Business > Reuters > Report

India's coffee crop hit by poor pre-monsoon rains

Narayanan Madhavan in Bangalore | May 29, 2003 21:48 IST

India's coffee output in the crop year to September 2004 is expected to be hit by poor pre-monsoon showers in May, compounding woes caused by a 30-year slump in prices and a hangover from last year's drought.

Officials said on Thursday that poor rainfall had mainly hit export-oriented arabicas.

The state-run Coffee Board had assessed the (Oct-Sept) 2003-04 crop at 275,000 tonnes, marginally below the 275,275 tonnes estimated for the current year ending September, but it was now unsure of achieving that figure, a senior official of the board told Reuters.

"There is a big 'if' now," said the official, who asked not to be identified. "We would like to assess the situation in mid-June. We believe it still can be made up."

He said poor rains in May in the main coffee growing areas of Karnataka and neighbouring Kerala had come on top of a 35 per cent to 40 per cent drop in the use of fertiliser to protect the profitability of plantations due to low global prices.

Last year's drought had led to a surge in pests and diseases in coffee plants, planters and officials said.

Bose Mandanna, a leading grower and a former vice-chairman of the board, told Reuters the drought had triggered heat conditions conducive for the hatching of white stem borer eggs.

"Unfavourable blossom showers and very scant backing showers, in addition to the white stem borer problem in arabicas, will surely reduce the estimated crop for arabica by 25-30 per cent," Mandanna said.

He said the arabica crop in 2003-04 could be as low as 80,000 tonnes, against the Coffee Board's estimate of 105,000 tonnes.

But robustas, which had an "on-year" last year, could show a fair crop following reasonable blossom showers, he added.

"We may revise upwards the figure for robusta," a Coffee Board source said.

India is estimated to have produced 275,275 tonnes in the drought-hit 2002-03 year, down from the previous year's 300,600 tonnes. Of this, 102,125 tonnes was arabica and the rest robusta, India's main coffee variety.

Ramesh Rajah, president of India's Coffee Exporters Association, told Reuters that a second wave of rains called the North East monsoon had also failed last year and poor pre-monsoon rains this year could accentuate the problem.

"Now they expect output to be 25 per cent lower but probably it is not so bad," Rajah said.



© Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.





Article Tools

Email this Article

Printer-Friendly Format

Letter to the Editor



Related Stories


Fading El Nino to help monsoon

'Monsoon a source for worry'

Bourses seen getting rain boost








HOME   
   NEWS   
   BUSINESS   
   CRICKET   
   SPORTS   
   MOVIES   
   NET GUIDE   
   SHOPPING   
   BLOGS  
   ASTROLOGY  
   MATCHMAKER  
© 2003 rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved.