Labour crisis in Kodagu’s estates may worsen over lockdown extension
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Growers can not carry migrant staff; post-harvest operations for the subsequent season hit as resident staff can not deal with the massive cultivated space
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•Growers who hoped of seeing curbs lifted, can not carry migrant staff with the lockdown prolonged until July 5
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The labour scarcity in Kodagu’s espresso plantations is anticipated to worsen with the continuation of ban on transporting staff from different districts and neighbouring States as a result of extension of lockdown in the district until July 5.
The labour contractors used to carry staff from districts in North and Hyderabad Karnataka, and components of Mysuru in addition to Kerala and Tamil Nadu for readying the estates for the subsequent season earlier than monsoon.
In view of curbs on inter-district and inter-state transport, staff couldn’t be delivered to Kodagu, delaying well timed operations. The frightened growers had been hoping that the curbs can be lifted on June 21. However, the lockdown has been prolonged until July 5 in the hill district based mostly on the positivity fee.
The growers claimed they had been working not on time by over a month as a result of labour scarcity. Now, with extension of curbs on migrant staff, the post-harvest actions in estates may see additional delay.
Bose Mandanna, former vice-chairman, Coffee Board, and a number one planter in Suntikoppa, stated the subsequent espresso season is taken into account gone in case of a delay or the well-timed post-harvest operations earlier than the monsoon had been missed due to labour scarcity. The shortage may outcome in drop in manufacturing due to delay in interventions similar to software of fertilizers.
With the exit of migrant staff over the pandemic, many estates had been working with minimal labour that additionally affected the harvest. Workers from Tamil Nadu had left Kodagu for the Assembly elections and had been but to return.
It is believed that resident staff can not handle the outsized cultivated space in the absence of migrant staff, who constituted almost 50 per cent of the labour drive.
“Making use of locally available workers, the activities are being carried out. But, the work has slowed down. The works are time bound and affect the season if we miss out. We should have finished work by June but are now one month behind schedule,” says M.C. Kariappa, Past President, Codagu Planters’ Association.
Another massive fear for growers is “kole roga” affecting Arabica vegetation following delay in spraying of pesticides as a result of dearth of labour. “This will result in a berry drop that was also noticed last year too.”
Coffee is grown in over 1.05 lakh hectares in Kodagu. The trade has been in misery since the previous couple of years as floods and landslides broken crops and estates, in addition to affecting the general productiveness. The woes of planters haven’t stopped but.
“When MSMEs can get loans at 4 per cent, why not the coffee growers for whom loans come at 11 or 12 per cent,” argued Mr Cariappa, an govt committee member of Karnataka Planters’ Association (KPA), who lamented the delay in restructuring growers’ previous loans.
Various espresso growers’ associations have pledged help to the district administration for making Kodagu COVID-19 free by deciding towards bringing migrant staff till June 21.
The help of huge plantations and firms working in the district has been sought by the authorities in the combat towards the pandemic.
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