BJP Rajya Sabha member Jaggesh has urged the Centre to provide special packages to coffee growers and restructure outstanding loans availed by them.
Coffee growers in Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Hassan districts have suffered badly due to destruction caused by heavy rain between July and September of last monsoon season. The impact of rain continues with diseases affecting plants and estate infrastructure, he said during special mention in Rajya Sabha.
Drastic changes in climate patterns over the last few years have adversely impacted India's coffee production and the quality of crops. Pest, heavy rainfall and landslides, damaged the coffee crop heavily. The production of crops for the year 2022 is estimated to be some 35 per cent lower and has an impact on export, he said.
Cost of financing is one of the biggest challenges of the coffee sector. Apart from high rates of interest, growers were unable to repay loans resulting in outstanding of lakhs of short-term and long-term loan accounts. The accounts of many coffee growers have turned to non-performing assets and the growers are now facing bank recovery proceedings, he said.
The Government must take immediate steps to exclude coffee plantations from recovery proceeding under the provisions of the Act and to restructure outstanding loans and a special package in line with the special coffee term loan, he said.
Published 23 December 2022, 16:11 IST