The Karnataka Growers’ Federation, an organisation of planters spread over three coffee-growing districts, has appealed to the State government to allow them to bring workers in vehicles for plantation work.
Without them, the coffee growers would not be able to take up seasonal works in the estate and that would affect the production in the coming year.
In a press release issued here on Tuesday, KGF president U.M. Thirthamallesh and general secretary Muralidhar S. Bakkaravalli said after the lockdown came into effect, the work in coffee estates had come to a standstill. Many workers had left the estates. “There are many works that need to be taken up during these months. There is a prediction that monsoon will set in by the end of May. Before that the planters have to prepare the ground and complete the pepper harvest,” the organisation said.
Due to the lockdown, planters have been facing difficulty in bringing workers even from neighbouring villages. The district administration should allow vehicular movement to ferry the workers, they said and added that the planters would provide the workers with masks and ensure social distancing in the estates.
