Karnataka coffee growers seek insurance and debt relief as planting area stagnates
Karnataka's coffee industry is seeking broader crop insurance and relief for indebted growers as land under cultivation remains largely unchanged, association chairman M. Salman Baseer told The Hindu in an interview published on October 11.
Baseer estimated that the state produces 250,000 to 280,000 tonnes of coffee annually on about 246,000 hectares. He said the cultivated area had not expanded for 15 to 20 years. Karnataka accounts for more than 70% of India's coffee production, according to the report.
The Karnataka Planters Association chairman cited restrictive land conversion rules, inadequate replanting subsidies, expensive borrowing and a shortage of climate-resilient, high-yielding varieties as obstacles. He said growers needed long-term funding for periodic replanting, weather-based insurance and policies that support higher yields.
Baseer also argued against indiscriminate expansion of plantations. Karnataka's shade-grown coffee is cultivated beneath the Western Ghats' tree canopy, he said, and protecting that environment should shape the industry's approach to growth. He favoured climate-resilient, higher-density planting over simply increasing the cultivated area.
The association has repeatedly asked the central government to include coffee, tea and rubber in the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana crop insurance programme. Baseer attributed their exclusion to plantation crops falling under the commerce ministry rather than the agriculture ministry. He said drought and unseasonal rain were damaging yields and worsening smallholders' debts.
According to his estimates, more than 2,000 Karnataka coffee growers face financial distress, with outstanding loans totalling ₹4 billion to ₹5 billion, equivalent to ₹400 crore to ₹500 crore. The association is asking banks and the government for a repayment moratorium, a halt to coercive seizures of farm assets and flexible one-time settlement packages.
Baseer said the association also wanted ambiguities under Section 31(i) of the SARFAESI debt recovery law addressed to protect coffee plantation land from distress auctions. These are industry demands rather than newly announced government measures.
On exports, he called for dedicated hubs with modern warehouses and processing facilities to reduce logistics costs. He urged stronger marketing of hand-picked, shade-grown Arabica and Robusta as premium products and a shift from unprocessed green coffee towards higher-value soluble coffee. The approach, he said, should emphasise value rather than competition solely on bulk volumes.