Growers opt for dryer to remove moisture from coffee beans

Coffee dryers have come as a boon for the growers who had lost hope of saving their crop. Due to the untimely rain, the growers were not able to dry coffee beans.

Coffee is cultivated on 28,590 hectares of land in the taluk. Of this, Robusta coffee is grown on 5,690 hectares and Arabica coffee is grown on 22,900 hectares.

However, due to the unfavourable climate, the growers have been seeking assistance from the government.

S R Darshan, a grower from Doddamalte village in the taluk, has installed a modern coffee dryer at a cost of Rs 17 lakh. The growers in the region are visiting his place and are gathering information about the machine.

The dryer requires firewood to generate heat and a motor of 11.5 HP run by fuel.

Drying coffee, pepper

One tonne of parchment coffee dries in eight hours and Rs 800 is charged per hour. About Rs 6,400 will be charged to dry 10 bags of parchment coffee, with each bag weighing 50 kg.

The dryer can also be used to dry pepper. Several other growers have been planning to install a dryer in the region.

The demand for dryers has increased over the days. Two tonnes of parchment coffee can be dried in a day, to produce coffee beans of the best quality, said S R Darshan.

Grants for coffee dryers

The Coffee Board has submitted a proposal to the Central government seeking grants for the purchase of dryers to benefit the growers.

If the proposal gets approval from the Parliament, the Coffee Board will disburse subsidies to the growers to instal customized dryers, as per their production.

Taluk Coffee Growers' Association president Mohan Bopanna said that the Coffee Board should consider the small growers. More projects such as greenhouse run on solar energy used to dry coffee should be implemented.

Coffee Board CEO Dr K G Jagadeesh said that another survey will be conducted to compensate the coffee growers who have undergone losses.

Efforts are being made to obtain grants for coffee dryers. A study is also undertaken on the installation of a greenhouse that can be used for drying coffee beans, he added.