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Flood damage may slash India’s coffee output by 20%
Why it is in news?
- India’s coffee production in 2018/19 is likely to fall by at least one-fifth from a year earlier as floods in key producing states damaged the crop and delayed exports, industry officials told Reuters.
- Some of the worst flooding in India in a century killed hundreds of people in the southern states of Kerala and Karnataka earlier this month, both of which account for more than 90% of the country’s total coffee production.
- Severe crop loss was reported in the coffee-growing regions of Kodagu in Karnataka and Wayanad in Kerala, while the Chikmagalur and Hassan districts in Karnataka also reported damage on limited scale
Sixth-largest grower
- The South Asian country, famous as a tea producer, is the world’s sixth-largest coffee grower, according to state-run Coffee Board, mainly churning out the robusta beans used to make instant coffee, but also producing some of the more expensive arabica variety.
- In 2017/18 marketing year to September 30, India produced 3.16 lakh tonnes coffee, Coffee Board data show.
Source
The Hindu