A Looming Crisis in Coffee

A pest menace has led coffee planters to burn over 35 lakh plants, endangering India’s coffee output

A crisis is brewing in the coffee industry. A pest called white stem borer, which attacks the soft stem of the Arabica variety, has led to the destruction of plantations. Damaged crops have to be pulled out and burned and planters will then have to plant afresh. The first yield is only expected in about four to five years from now.

Coffee Board chairman, Jawaid Akhthar, says that an unprecedented 35 lakh plants have been destroyed this year. “Normally, in a year four to five plants had to be removed and replanted per acre. This year, the white stem borer has severely affected 48 per cent of the total plantation in Kodagu, Hassan and Chikmagalur districts of Karnataka where a majority of the country’s coffee is grown,’’ he reveals.

The white stem borer has been around for almost a century, causing limited damage. Over the last two years, however, drought and lesser rainfall have led to its proliferation. “Global warming… has also contributed. Planters, too, are partly to blame as they supplement income with pepper twines for which shade is cut helping the borer proliferate,’’ explains Akhthar. Arabica is grown in higher altitudes— 1,500 feet above sea level. It fetches more than the Robusta variety and is used widely as blends in Europe. “Today, there is a real danger of Arabica plantations being wiped out. We are following the Board’s advice on how to control it, like using pheromone traps which target egg- laying females. But it is taking time. This pest has started to attack even one-year-old plants which does not bode well for the future,’’ says Bose Mandanna, a planter.

A new plant takes hits a peak in its yield only after eight years. Planters in some belts are switching to Robusta. Karnataka Planters’ Association chairman D Govindappa Jayaram hopes that the board constitutes a research panel to contain this pest.

About The Author

Anil Budur Lulla