Rains- a blessing or bane?
As the heavens weep upon Karnataka’s key coffee-growing regions—Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru, and Hassan—growers of arabica coffee, renowned for its refined flavor, are bracing for the repercussions. The harvest season arrives, and along with it, the rains are a paradoxical blessing and bane.
Rain-kissed beans would usually mean a bounty, but this year’s rainfall during the harvest season may sow discord among arabica coffee growers. The watery embrace leads to fruit splitting on the plant, a grievous malady, as it causes beans to plunge into the earth. These drenched, split arabica fruits, unable to be pulped into parchment, must undergo an alternative journey—conversion into cherry. This transition heralds a loss for the growers, as arabica parchment coffee, prized for its quality, typically commands a premium of almost 40-50 percent over cherry coffee.
While the ongoing spell is hurting arabica growers, the rainfall is suitable for robusta variety as it is a kind of winter irrigation and also for the upcoming pepper crop, which is in berry filling stages. The rains provide respite to a region with a rainfall deficit ranging from 30-50 percent this year. However, this momentary relief also bears the weight of uncertainty. Coffee drying, a critical phase in post-harvest processing, stands delayed.
Earlier-than-expected arabica harvest season
Early blossom showers in January ushered in the arabica harvest season, arriving earlier than expected due to the prolonged dry spells during the monsoons and a dearth of adequate yearly rainfall. The repercussions ripple across the plantations, and the impact is most severe on the arabicas. A familiar tale unfolds, with rain-drenched, early-ripened arabica beans splitting on the bushes and tumbling onto the soil. However, for robusta, known for its resilience, the rains bear a different promise.Experts are concerned about the likely crop loss of around 10-15 percent in pockets where the beans have ripened. While the rains’ impact varies across the coffee-growing regions, growers remain vigilant, keeping a wary eye on the meteorological forecasts that portend more rain.
As importers worldwide await the flow of coffee from Karnataka, the state-run Coffee Board’s initial forecast places the 2023-24 coffee crop at 3.74 million tonnes, higher than the previous year’s 3.52 million tonnes. This leaves us with a question mark hanging over the future—will it be a downpour of success or a tempest of setbacks for the coffee market?