With relentless rainfall battering Kodagu district, coffee growers fear severe losses and poor yields in the coming season.
A delegation led by MLA Manthar Gowda met Coffee Board chairman M J Dinesh in Somwarpet on Monday to outline the crisis. Growers explained that key coffee-growing regions had received between 1,770 mm and 2,500 mm of rain from January through June.
This excessive rainfall disrupted critical farm operations and preventive treatments, leaving crops vulnerable to rot disease, which is likely to worsen over the next three months.
Representatives from the Kodagu Planters Association and planters across the district warned that next year’s harvest could be severely compromised if immediate support measures are not introduced.
They urged the Coffee Board and the government to conduct an urgent study into the impact of the rains and extend relief to affected farmers.
Among those present were Codagu Planters Association president Nanda Belliappa, secretary C K Belliappa, executive committee member Vishwanath K K, and former Coffee Board vice-president Bose Mandanna.