Coffee plantations in the Kodagu district are grappling with a shortage of labor, causing delays in the harvest of coffee. The demand for labour is particularly high during the December-April period since it is robusta coffee harvesting season in the district.
In various parts of the district, coffee estate owners are seen roaming in the city in search of labourers. In Virajpet, especially on Wednesdays, when there is a market day, planters from different parts of villages visit the town to seek laborers, who, on that day, frequent the market during their weekly day off.
“For the past five years, we have been encountering significant labour shortages for coffee picking. Previously, labourers used to come from North Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and parts of Mysuru. However, they have stopped coming as they find employment in the city, particularly in construction work. In the last three years, we got people from Assam. This year, they are not coming until the general elections are over,” Sandeep Muthappa, a planter from Virajpet told The Hindu.
Outsourcing the harvest work
Despite offering high wages, coffee planters are struggling to find labourers to harvest coffee beans. Currently, labourers are paid ₹5 to ₹6 per kg of coffee beans, a cost that planters deem excessive given the minimal returns after drying and selling the beans. Speaking to The Hindu, Nanda Nanaiah from Madikeri said, “With no other options, we have to resort to outsourcing the harvest work through the contract system, leading to substantial losses for coffee growers. Alternatively, paying ₹5 to ₹6 per kg for picking leads to losses for the growers. A person normally picks 100 to 150 kgs of coffee beans per day where he earns ₹600 to ₹900.”
A widely shared photo on social media depicts a coffee estate owner in Kodagu holding a board that reads “workers wanted to pick coffee beans.” The person has also affixed a board to his jeep, announcing the wages he is willing to pay for the workers, indicating the severity of the crisis.
Rainfall woes
In addition to the labour shortage, the unseasonal rain has further aggravated the crisis. The rainy weather has adversely affected the harvesting and drying of the robusta variety. Unseasonal rains since Thursday morning in Kodagu district have become a cause for worry for the farmers.
The coffee growers in Kodagu have initiated the harvesting of coffee over the past few days and commenced the sun-drying process. However, farmers express concern that the cloudy and rainy weather will pose challenges in properly drying the coffee beans.
Planter Dhyan Ponnappa of Kutta in South Kodagu said, “ If it rains, we risk losing the crops, as rain hinders the drying process. Without proper drying within the next four days, we may face significant losses.”
Meanwhile, according to a rainfall alert by Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) heavy rains very likely over Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Chikkamagaluru, and portions of Chamarajanagar, Shivamogga, Mysuru, and Mandya districts. Remaining parts of Karnataka are likely to have cloudy conditions with isolated very light to light rains during next five days.
