Karnataka Growers’ Federation has appealed to the State government to provide minimum support price for coffee, considering the loss coffee growers suffered in the last one year.
KGF president H.T. Mohan Kumar and secretary K.B. Krishnappa, in a press release issued here on Thursday, said that coffee growers had been in financial distress as nearly 50 pc of the yield from coffee and pepper farms was lost due to untimely rains in January. The growers were not in a position to harvest the remaining yield due to non-availability of workers. The officers of Agriculture, Horticulture and Revenue Departments had been doing survey to assess the loss suffered.
“Considering the plight of the growers, neighbouring Kerala government has initiated measures to provide minimum support price for coffee. Similarly, Karnataka government should come forward to the rescue of the growers in Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Kodagu districts”, the Federation said.
Referring to Dr.M.S.Swaminathan’s report, it demanded MSP at the rate of 1.5 times of the production cost. The State government should take a decision on this in the coming budget, it said.
