India is expected to produce around 300,000 tonnes coffee in 2010-11 (October-September), marginally lower than the Coffee Board of India’s post-blossom forecast made in March, on pest damage to arabica plantations, growers and exporters said.
Coffee growers see output in 2010-11 to be higher on year as weather conditions in growing regions were fairly conducive during the monsoon season. But instances of pest attacks on arabica coffee plantations during monsoon could hit output slightly and drag down the board’s post-blossom estimates, they said.
Several regions in southern India, where coffee is mainly grown, received excessive rains during June-September monsoon.
“Rains were deficient in the beginning but picked up later. I do not see any major loss of crop as rains were fairly widespread across the coffee growing regions,” said Anil Bhandari, a coffee grower and member of Coffee Board.
He said India could produce between 295,000-305,000 tonnes coffee.
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Arabica coffee, which accounts for nearly 30 per cent of the total coffee crop in India, was affected due to white stem borer pest attack in the plantations.
“Arabica coffee has been affected by white stem borer pest that may lower post-monsoon output. But Robusta, with cheaper cultivation cost and better resistance to pests, has gained currency among coffee growers, and is likely to have higher output compared with the previous season,” Bose Mandanna, a former vice-chairman of Coffee Board, said.
Mandanna said he saw only a little decline in actual output as compared with the Coffee Board’s post-blossom estimates.
Coffee Board makes two coffee output estimates every crop year, the first after the blossoming of the crop in March-April and another in October-November, after the monsoon retreats.
The 2009-10 post-monsoon estimates at 289,000 tonnes were lower than the board’s post-blossom estimates at 306,000 tonnes.
Jabir Asghar, vice-chairman, Coffee Board, said he expected 2010-11 production to be close to 280,000-290,000 tonnes. “Heavy rains had adversely affected coffee production in 2009-10, but the case is not true for 2010-11,” he said.
There is normally a six-seven per cent difference between post-blossom and post-monsoon estimates, he said.
Karnataka and Kerala, the two major robusta coffee growing states, have seen a marginal increase in the Coffee Board’s post-blossom output estimates compared with last year. The two states are expected to produce 219,625 tonnes and 65,775 tonnes coffee respectively, higher than the 2009-10 post monsoon estimates of 205,700 tonnes and 59,250 tonnes.
“The blossom and backing showers were reported to be good and adequate in almost all the coffee growing zones of Karnataka,” the Board had said in its post-blossom estimates.
“No adverse effect on (coffee) crop was reported in coffee growing districts of Kerala,” it said.
Tamil Nadu, where majority of coffee grown is of Arabica variety, has seen a decline in its 2010-11 post-blossom estimates at 65,775 tonnes against earlier post monsoon estimates of 59,250 tonnes.
India is likely to export around 270,000 tonnes coffee during the crop year ended September, compared with 178,000 tonnes exported during the previous year.
The country exports coffee mainly to Italy, Russia, Germany, Belgium and Spain.