Coffee yield drops due to white stem borer

CHIKMAGALUR: Coffee yield is expected to fall far below the pre blossom estimation made by the Coffee Board due to the white stem borer menace and untimely rains in the coffee growing areas.

The pre blossom estimate was around 84,000 tonnes of coffee, including 45,500 tonnes of Arabica and 38,500 tonnes of Robusta in the district.

According to Coffee Board officials who do not want to be quoted, continuous three years drought more than 30 per cent of coffee plantations were infested by the dreaded white stem borer which brought down production in the district.

The untimely rain and unusual increase in humidity had a telling effect on the crop, they said.

Now the post blossom estimation by the Coffee Board officials put the production figure at around 69,000 tonnes, including 40,000 arabica and 29,000 robusta coffee.

The district being the largest coffee producer in the country has about 56,570 hectares of arabica and 30,000 hectares of robusta cultivation in the district.

Had not the white stem borer menace and the untimely rain affected the coffee crop, its production in the district would have certainly surpassed its previous production record, officials claim.