Coffee, areca growers worried about crop loss

Incessant rain in the town and in the hobli has been making the lives of coffee growers difficult.

Planters A D Mohan and Doddappa lamented that the crops grown out of hard work are getting spoiled due to rainfall.

The farmers are doubtful about getting the investment made on the crops back, forget the profit, he said.

Due to the unfavourable weather, Robusta coffee, which is supposed to be ready for harvest by January-February, is getting ripe prematurely. The growers are not able to harvest the coffee.

Even though some of the growers have harvested the coffee, they cannot dry them. Coffee berries are rotting and withering from the plants.

Agriculturist Mohan Kumar, who shifted from paddy cultivation to areca, said that he had hoped of getting a good yield and profit. However, due to the increase in humidity, areca is affected by rot disease.

In Shanivarasanthe, 60% of the areca crop is affected. Rotten areca, which has withered from the trees, is waste. The farmers cannot even dry them as there is no sunshine, he said.