CHIKKAMAGALURU: Erappa Shetty, a small coffee planter, carries a headload of fruit freshly plucked from his farm spread over only 1.5 acres at Aladagudde in Chikkamagaluru taluk. He packs it in bags for the next step of removing pulp. The bags will be sent for curing, a process where raw coffee beans are converted into a clean form, devoid of all husk and parchment cover.
Shetty (60) was working with his wife and two labourers at his small plantation when The New Indian Express visited him. “The cost of labour is high. Hence, we family members and relatives work most of the time. Labourers from outside are brought if major works are involved,” Shetty says.
He got 1.5 acres after his family’s 5 acre expanse was divided among him and his brothers about 25 years back. The plantation of coffee is being done since then, but his earnings are not enough to cater to the needs of his family. He also runs a small shop that sells cigarettes, beedis and eatables.
“It is difficult to survive on the income I generate. The cost of production has increased drastically. I invest Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 every year to grow coffee and pepper. The income I get out of selling coffee beans is not even equal to the investment. It is pepper, which is saving us from financial catastrophe. Unfortunately, the yield of pepper will be less this time. Last year, I got Rs 70,000 by selling pepper and Rs 42,000 from coffee beans,” he said.
Shetty got eight bags (each 50kg) of coffee beans last year as the region faced dry spell over last two-three years. This year, he is expecting a yield of 12 bags, each being sold at Rs 7,200. Shetty has grown Arabica, which requires more maintenance than Robusta.
Like many other farmers, he is also exploited by middlemen. He sells his coffee beans to curers with Rs 100-200 profit margin. “We really do not know the cost at which it gets exported because nobody reveals it to us,” said Kantharaj, another grower.