A coffee plantation in Kodagu, in the shade of silver oak trees. | Photo Credit: MAIL
Using silver oaks is detrimental for robusta
The exotic silver oak may be coffee growers’ preferred shade tree now, but research shows that it affects carbon sequestration and tree diversity in Kodagu’s agroforest systems.
Kodagu’s coffee farms were created when farmers cleared forest undergrowth and started growing coffee under the shade of giant evergreen trees. This ‘native shade’ coffee is still prevalent in the district, but evergreen trees are quickly losing out to the fast-growing silver oak. Farmers do not need permission from forest officials to lop or cut silver oak; this also contributes to its popularity. However, old forest trees make up a huge portion of carbon stocks here, and carbon stocks matter because the higher the carbon contained in vegetation, the more it helps with mitigating climate change.
Carbon stocks
To find out if carbon stocks change when silver oak takes over, a team including scientist Manjunatha Munishamappa from Bengaluru’s Environmental Management and Policy Research Institute studied a total of 49 native and exotic agroforestry systems – where either robusta (which needs more sunlight) or arabica coffee varieties are grown – near 18 forest patches that fall under both moderate and high rainfall zones. In each plot (all spread across 22 locations along the Cauvery river in Kodagu), the researchers quantified shade tree species diversity and the amount of organic carbon sequestered in the trees by measuring wood, root, litter and soil biomass. Across all plots, the researchers identified a total of 86 native tree species; and the total carbon stocks rose with increasing tree diversity.
Native trees in coffee estates and forests displayed high and comparable carbon stocks (approximately 193 and 222 megagrams (Mg) of carbon (C) per hectare respectively) as well as tree diversity (around 45 tree species). However, the introduction of silver oak negatively impacted both carbon stock and diversity. Predictably, robusta coffee estates with silver oaks had significantly lower tree diversity (nine species) and lower carbon stocks (up to an average of 65 MgC per hectare) than all other land-use systems in both precipitation zones.
Current trends
Hence, the current trend of replacing native shade trees in coffee estates with silver oaks is detrimental for carbon storage and tree diversity, especially in robusta farms. Current policies do play a role in this change, because the exotics can be cut for timber without prior permission.
“We have submitted two reports to the Karnataka government on these findings, we hope some policy changes will be incorporated,” he said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Science / by Aathira Perinchery/ October 20th, 2018
The inauguration of Mysuru Dasara on Wednesday came with a special gift for the people of Kodagu, who were hit by floods and landslips recently. Infosys Foundation has announced a grant of Rs. 25 crore for construction of houses in the district.
Foundation chairperson Sudha Murty, who inaugurated the festivities, made the announcement in the presence of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy. In her address, Ms. Murty said her foundation would build houses for the distressed people of flood-ravaged Kodagu if the government came forward with land for it.
She also promised to contribute more for restoring the Hebbal lake in Mysuru, on whose rejuvenation the foundation is spending Rs. 35 crore. Ms. Murty is the first woman to inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara festivities in decades
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysuru – October 11th, 2018
A look at the variety of factors that go into brewing a truly green cup, from direct trade to responsible single-estate players.
Coffee is the most valuable legally-traded commodity in the world, second only to oil.
It is estimated that 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed each day, worldwide. Ironically, the poorest countries in the world (Guatemala, Ethiopia, Peru and Honduras are some of the top producers of coffee) are growing it, while it’s the richest who are drinking it (the top five coffee consumers are all European countries)… and at prices that get more absurd every day.
It is important to know that the coffee sold at retail is a different economic product from wholesale coffee, traded on the commodity exchange as green beans. And therein lies the rub. The money goes to those that process it. Coffee needs to be hulled, dried, roasted and ground before you can drink it. A big, shiny roaster inside your café means you can charge more than double what the farmer who grew the bean got for it. British charity Oxfam says the price of raw coffee exported from producer countries accounts for less than 7 % of the eventual cost of coffee to Western consumers.
The organic perspective
While certified organic coffee is sold at a premium, lower yields mean that farmers do not always profit in a meaningful way from obtaining certification, so most forgo it completely.
Fair Trade is a good option because the middlemen in coffee are so notorious. Coffee importers provide credit to certified farmers to help them stay out of debt with coffee buyers. But, the certification itself is expensive and there are several brands that practise fair trade without certification.
There are more than a few brands in India that make sustainable, fair trade, organic coffee nowadays. Black Baza is one of them. Founder Arshiya Bose, having done a PhD in the brew, believes a healthy ecosystem creates the best coffee. Black Baza supports their farmers with regular field research on healthy ecosystem indicators: spiders are the pest-control and butterflies, the pollinators. Not only is their coffee organic but the tree cover under which the coffee is grown also has to be 80% natural forest trees.
Organic coffee is mostly always shade-grown because of the large amounts of pesticide and fertilisers required to grow coffee under the sun. Indian coffee competes with large-scale, high-tech coffee estates in Central and South America, which were razed rainforests to begin with. They became so completely stripped of nutrients that in many areas of Brazil, the land could no longer be used for agriculture.
Little wonder that sun-grown coffee is the third most heavily sprayed crop in the world.
A constant struggle
I spoke to Kishore Cariappa of the famed Cariappa Coffee in Kodaikanal (with its own café). Their organic, single-estate, single-origin coffee, is easily one of the best in the country.
Kishore is a stickler for detail. Because the coffee is naturally rain-fed — with no artificial irrigation — the beans all ripen at different times. This means harvesting takes place several times to ensure only ripe berries are picked. It’s time-consuming and labour-intensive, but the only way you can compete with larger coffee companies.
His state-of-the-art roasting and processing machinery was bought to handle 200 acres of coffee. He had dreamt of starting a co-op of the farms in his village — tribal people that grew coffee organically under the shade of forest trees. He had even set up a system by which the farmers would get a monthly salary instead of the once-a-year bumper price that comes with the crop. But all the farmers in his village had already given their coffee out on five-10-year contracts to a clan of local coffee buyers.
“Educated farmers keep track of the prices in London and know what price to demand. But the average farmer doesn’t. They are not exposed to the Internet and their holdings are too small for export. Add to that the fact that they get an income only once a year, so they borrow money from this consortium of buyers and have their coffee locked on contract. This way, the international market prices don’t apply to them any more,” he says.
Kishore decided to go ahead with growing his own coffee and quickly realised that the only way to make money being a coffee farmer was to start his own café. It’s no dream job, though. “Growing sustainable coffee is hard. Organic coffee is so much more labour-intensive; which means expensive. To export, you need 20 tonnes per batch at least to fill a container. Coffee has to be fresh, even the green beans, so you have to send it in batches which is another added cost.”
Direct trade, where coffee roasters directly purchase from farmers, is also a socially sustainable choice. There’s no set standard, and there are no certifications. Roasters directly negotiate prices with the farmers, who typically earn a higher premium for their product. Blue Tokai coffee bags come with a detailed card on the farmer and the farm on which the coffee you ordered, was grown.
We are blessed to be growing some of the finest coffee in the world, and there are now plenty of brands that do it well. Keep it local, nourish our coffee traditions and support those that are making a difference.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Food / by Simrit Malhi / October 04th, 2018
“A forestdepleted Kodagu basin will have reduced capacity to capture and store rainwater.” It is a picture of destruction in Hattihole near Somwarpet, Kodagu, after the floods. | Photo Credit: Sampath Kumar G.P.
Protecting the Kodagu watershed is essential to ensure the water security of three States
We require water for everything: drinking, growing crops, producing electricity and industrial production. With the world population projected to grow to about 10 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations, and with climate change discernible, both the quantity and quality of freshwater will become critical, affecting health, food security, and economic well-being. A 2015 UN report, Water for a Sustainable World, pointed out that the gap between the availability of water and our need for water is only going to increase.
Projects in the river basin
The growing demand on freshwater resources demonstrates the need for sustainable management of water. In this context, projects that are being contemplated, such as the laying of multiple railway tracks in the critical Cauvery river basin in Kodagu district, Karnataka, are not only economically unviable but also ecologically damaging. Mega projects pose a clear threat to the long-term water security of the three States that depend on the Cauvery (Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu), and exacerbate the threat posed by seasonal droughts and floods.
The Cauvery basin drains an area of about 81,000 sq. km. Originating in Talakaveri, Kodagu, the river irrigates agricultural fields, generates electricity, and provides drinking water to downstream communities across south India. The Cauvery and its tributaries contribute the bulk of water to the Krishna Raja Sagara dam near Mysuru, the primary water source for Bengaluru. However, increasing development pressure from the transportation and construction sectors poses a severe threat to the forests, riverbeds, wildlife and agricultural lands. This March, for the first time in decades, towns such as Virajpet in Kodagu faced a severe shortage of drinking water. The continuing loss of forest cover and illegal sand mining from river beds endanger water and food security for all the downstream communities in the Cauvery basin.
The three proposed railway plans have major implications. One, all the tracks will cut through large swaths of agricultural farms and fields as well as Protected and Reserve Forests that are spread across Kodagu and Mangaluru districts of Karnataka, and Wayanad and Kannur districts of Kerala. Along this sparsely populated area, transportation needs can be met by simply improving existing roads at a fraction of the monetary and ecological cost of the proposed railways. In fact, in its feasibility report of the Mysuru-Thalassery line, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation stated that the project would not be beneficial to the State. In response to protests by the people of Kodagu in February, the plan to build the Mysuru-Thalassery line was scrapped in March. However, if history is any guide, plans to build the tracks will reemerge in time.
Two, they will affect the Western Ghats, one of the most biodiverse regions on earth. Kodagu has about 45% forest cover and about 30% agroforestry systems (coffee plantations and paddy fields). Between 2013 and 2015, a high-tension power line linking Mysuru and Kozhikode resulted in the loss of about 50,000 trees in Kodagu alone. If the proposed railway lines are constructed, they would conservatively result in tree loss that is 10 times more than this. Forests help capture rainfall, reduce run-off and soil erosion, recharge groundwater aquifers, mitigate flooding, support local communities, and provide refuge for native flora and fauna. Raised railway tracks will also impede wildlife and could result in the deaths of endangered animals such as elephants. Most importantly, a forest-depleted Kodagu basin will have reduced capacity to capture and store rainwater. Even without the railway tracks, a satellite-based report titled India State of Forests 2017 noted that Kodagu lost 102 sq. km. of tree cover in just two years.
Variable monsoon
The Kodagu basin receives heavy rainfall, mainly during the southwest monsoon (June-September), that feeds the Cauvery. However, studies by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and others, published in the journal Nature, have found evidence for increasingly variable monsoon rainfall. Thus, we can expect to experience more extreme floods as well as droughts in the future. These are scenarios that make preserving forest cover more vital in order to mitigate the collateral effects of these extreme events.
During this year’s southwest monsoon season, Kodagu received twice as much annual rainfall as usual and with greater intensity. This resulted in landslides and floods. A recent study of nearly 5,000 landslides around the world, published in Earth and Space Science News (Eos), has revealed that activities like construction, illegal mining and hill cutting are increasingly responsible for the uptick in fatal landslides, particularly in Asia. It will be hard to claim that the uncontrolled development and forest clearance in the steep slopes of the Western Ghats in recent years has not been a factor in the tragedy that just unfolded in Kodagu, and in the coastal districts of Kerala. With 100-year storms likely to become more frequent as the climate becomes warmer, business as usual is sure to increasingly endanger lives and property.
Erratic monsoon rains can cause flooding, droughts, water and food security. Preserving existing forests in the watershed provides an effective ‘insurance policy’ for reducing the effect of floods and droughts while recharging groundwater across the Cauvery river basin. Nature has reported that diminished access to water resources increases the risk of social unrest, political instability, intensified refugee flows and armed conflicts, even within borders. The variable nature of monsoons makes India one of the most vulnerable regions to water-related disasters associated with climate change and extreme weather events. According to a BBC report, Bengaluru is likely to run out of drinking water in the next decade. Economists should estimate the monetary and human cost of cities like Bengaluru becoming dry, and implement policies focused on achieving and maintaining sustainable water resources.
We are at the start of the UN Decade for Water, which emphasises water security for all. Everyone lives in a watershed, yet water remains a remote concept for those who consume it the most — people, industries and farmers. There are no substitutes for water as the very basis for life. Protecting the Cauvery’s source is essential for the sustained well-being of the entire basin and of the three States that the river nourishes. In fact, good water governance of the nation’s watersheds will be key to its sustainable future. We can begin by saving Cauvery’s cradle.
Bopaiah Biddanda is Professor of Water Resources at the Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute, U.S.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Opinion> Comment / by Bopaiah Biddanda / September 24th, 2018
With donors from across the state contributing to CM’s Relief Fund, exclusively released to Kodagu district, over Rs 62 crore has been collected as on September 20.
Madikeri :
Following the natural disaster in Kodagu district, the numerous families that had lost houses and other properties were handed over Rs 3,800 – Rs 1,800 for clothing and Rs 2,000 for utensils and other household goods (per family)- under SDRF/NDRF guidelines.
Since the damage has been severe and the process of permanent rehabilitation will take some more time, the district administration including Deputy Commissioner Sreevidya P I and Kodagu District Minister Sa Ra Mahesh had proposed a request to the State government to increase the amount from meagre Rs 3,800/- per family to Rs 50,000, in a letter dated 28 August.
While the State and National Disaster Fund guidelines do not allow any changes to be made to the gratuitous funds, the state revenue department had stepped into people’s aid and had forwarded the proposal of releasing Rs 50,000/- each for the distressed families from the Karnataka Chief Minister Relief Fund-Natural Calamity 2018. The proposal, which was forwarded to CM H D Kumaraswamy was later forwarded to the Cabinet Committee for approval, which has now been sanctioned.
With donors from across the state contributing to CM’s Relief Fund, exclusively released to Kodagu district, over Rs 62 crore has been collected as on September 20. As many as 1,156 families have been directly affected by natural disaster and 186 houses have been damaged completely, 530 houses have been damaged severely and 404 houses have undergone partial damage.
While Rs 320 crore has been allotted to Karnataka under SDRF, an additional state fund of Rs 400 crore is provided to the state.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service / September 22nd, 2018
Taking note of the geographical factors typical of hilly Kodagu also known for its origin of the river Cauvery, Sreevidya began vacating people the next day from danger-prone areas.
When the whole of Kerala reeled under floods last month amid rain-triggered landslides along its eastern mountains, just east of upstate Malabar, Kodagu too was hit by the calamity. Yet, if the people of southern Karnataka’s scenic district largely escaped the effects of the monsoon fury, a share of the credit goes to a Malayali bureaucrat’s prompt administrative initiatives.
A native of Kollam district in Kerala, P I Sreevidya was only eight months old with her capacity as the deputy commissioner of Kodagu when her office got information last month that the district along the Western Ghats was set to receive “very heavy and unusual rains.” Far from laughing off the alert received on August 12 through various agencies, the 2009-batch IAS officer swung into action.
Taking note of the geographical factors typical of hilly Kodagu also known for its origin of the river Cauvery, Sreevidya began vacating people the next day from danger-prone areas. Relief camps came up within hours.
As it rained cats and dogs on August 15 and 16, Kodagu lost 2,500 houses while crops perished in acres of farmlands. Roads developed cracks, some simply vanished.
Sreevidya, who had earlier served as Kodagu zilla panchayat chief executive officer for six months from mid-November 2013, opened a control room this time by her office, coordinating rescue and relief operations. She ensured that the district got aid from all the three arms of the service, besides the IAF’s special Garud commando service and the state police, fire force as well as the National Disaster Response Force under the Centre.
Joining her in the efforts were zilla panchayat CEO Prashanth Kumar Mishra, police chief Suman D Pennekar, MLAs Appachu Ranjan (Madikeri) and K G Bopaiah (Virajpet) along with other people’s representatives and social workers. The office of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy would enquire about the developments on an hourly basis. There were opportune interventions from state chief secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar.
“All these ensured that we could minimise the loss to property and the impact on public life,” says Sreevidya, who belongs to Chakkuvarakkal near Kottarakara and had secured 14th rank in her civil service exams. “I couldn’t even call home those two days.”
The bureaucrat’s four-year-old son Madhav, sensing the gravity of the situation, threw no tantrums and stayed quietly with his grandparents in the camp house.
As for Sreevidya’s husband, he is also a top officer. T Narayanan, who is Pathanamthitta district police chief, was that time busy in a similar rescue operation in his area. There, in south-central Kerala, the Pamba had swollen dangerously, invading places along both its banks, much to the trauma of their residents. “Believe me, I didn’t know his place was that badly affected. Neither did he know anything about the Kodagu floods,” says Sreevidya. “We were both cut off that time.”
Today, Kodagu people are all praise for their deputy commissioner. Social media posts, especially on Facebook, speak of Sreevidya’s administrative efforts that assuaged their misery.
source: http://www.english.manoramaonline.com / Home> Women / by Malayalam Manorama Correspondent / September 17th, 2018
The hanging bride built across Cauvery River near Sri Ramalingeshwara Temple at Kanive close to Kushalnagar in Somwarpet taluk of Kodagu District has been severely damaged by recent floods that devastated Kodagu.
The hanging bridge connects villages along the border between Kodagu and Mysuru Districts. It also acted as a bond between villagers. The bridge with its unique nature, also attracted thousands of tourists. But heavy rains resulting in the flooding of Cauvery and Harangi Rivers, has caused huge damages to the bridge, which is on the verge of collapsing.
The Steel-Suspension Bridge supported by piers on both the banks of the river, has been so devastated by floods, that even pedestrians too are scared to walk on this bridge.
The steel rods that hold the bridge have broken and the wooden planks meant for pedestrian commute, have come apart. Thousands of people who depended on this bridge for their daily commute to work, are now scared about their future, with the bridge no longer safe for commuting.
Entry to the bridge has been banned by the Police.
This hanging bridge was built eight years ago at a cost of Rs. 45 lakh, funded by Malnad Area Development Board (MADB), Shivamogga. Sullai’s renowned suspension bridge expert Girish and his team constructed the bridge using the latest technology. The bridge had been the dream of thousands of people living in villages along Kodagu’s border with Mysuru District. The bridge connects many villages of Periyapatna taluk in Mysuru District, including Dodda Kammanahalli, Shanubhoganahalli, Dindigadu, Muttina Mulluroge, Kanagalu, Hanumanthapura and Karadi Lakkanakere with Kodagu villages such as Kanive, Bhuvanagiri, Huluse, Hakke, Kudige, Mararu and Hebbale. Before the construction of this hanging bridges, the villagers had to cross the river on boats and on the dangerous bridge along the aqueduct built at a height of over 50ft. This dangerous and risky bridge was a bane to hundreds of students and labourers who used to commute daily. The authorities taking note of the daily hardship of the people, built this bridge at Kanive.
As flooding waters submerged this bridge and caused considerable damage to it, pedestrian movement on the bridge has been banned. The Police have erected barricades across the bridge. With the closure of his hanging bridge, villagers along the border are forced to take a detour of about 20kms via Avarti to reach Kushalnagar and other places.
With the recent floods weakening the bridge, the villagers have urged the Kodagu District Administration to repair this bridge at the earliest and throw it open once again for the benefit of villagers, who consider this bridge as a very important part of their life.
Unfortunately, for the people who depended on the bridge, the District Administration has not yet announced any funds to repair the bridge.
The bridge is crucial for the devotees to go to the historic Ramalingeshwara Temple and as the bridge is unsafe now, many people are robbed off the opportunity to go to the temple, said Bharadhwaj K. Anandatheertha, a writer from Kanive.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News /
September 16th, 2018
Raj Bhagat Palanichamy of WRI India is preparing open source free online tools and maps to deal with floods.
As Bengaluru and Chennai stare into a future which is likely to be dotted with more floods, Raj Bhagat Palanichamy is busy working on a defence strategy. He is preparing an online tool and maps for Chennai and Bengaluru. Raj works as a GIS and remote sensing analyst with WRI Ross Cities program at WRI (World Resources Institute) India. A not-for-profit global research organisation, WRI works on ideas to create sustainable cities.
During the recent floods, he had released maps of Kodagu and Kerala that aimed at helping authorities and people involved in rescue work by sharing information. On whether his maps could achieve their objective, the young researcher says, “I got an SOS call from the disaster management wing of the Revenue Department of Karnataka, one morning asking for these maps. I shared with them an interactive website which gave them access to these maps. I think drone surveys were commissioned in Kodagu after consulting our maps. With Kerala, there was no direct channel of communication between us and its government. Also, the authorities in Kerala were right in the thick of action so we couldn’t really interact. The idea was to tell the governments that there are ways to seek information. Social media was interested. My tweets had 40,000 impressions.”
With high possibilities of flooding occurring in Bengaluru and Chennai in the coming months, Raj is now working on maps for both the cities and plans to release it five days before the meteorological department predict heavy downpours. Raj reveals that one can extract more accurate data closer to the date. An hour of observation is needed to generate maps. “Our mandate was never to deal with a crisis on a short-term basis. The 2015 Chennai floods made us realise that there is a need to have a structure for a short-term solution to save lives. We are now working on an open source online tool that will predict the areas to be most affected and also monitor those areas. The online tool will be ready sometime in 2019 as it is stuck right now due to paucity of funds but the maps will be there soon, though.”
Raj feels the conversations should be on handling the climate change. “Like how to diversify our cities so they don’t get overburdened. While the government looks at flooding with an engineering perspective — building and clearing canals, the main thing is rainwater harvesting. We could use parks to hold rainfall and avoid constructions on flood plains.”
He says the flood tool can send out a warning. The findings can be integrated into the planning to identify critical areas and avoid construction there. The tool will help in identifying critical buildings such as hospitals and schools to come up with a proper defence mechanism against floods.
Raj feels too much dependence on dams is not recommended. “Traditional ways of water conservation and improvement of water efficiency and productivity need to be the focus. The government shouldn’t focus on mega projects.” He also feels that the gap between analytics and planning should be bridged. “There are 100 of research projects about the flooding in Mahanadi river but these have not been integrated into planning because researchers probably don’t know how to reach out and publicise their work. The Amaravati floods very often not just because of the infrastructure but also due to lack of planning.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society / by Shailaja Tripathi / September 18th, 2018
A house constructed using composite material near Chikkapetehalli near Yelahanka in Bengaluru
A former scientist from the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bengaluru, has come up with a proposal to construct light-weight, flood-resistant houses made of composite material in Kodagu district.
The material used in lightweight combat aircraft will be employed to build the houses, to replace brick and mortar as construction material.
Dr R Gopalan, the retired scientist from NAL, also the executive director and CEO of Society for Development of Composites, says structures constructed using brick and cement increases the load on the soil, which is not good for houses prone to natural disasters.
“Across the world, people are building houses using composite materials, which have high durability compared to traditional brick and cement. The weight of these houses is 1/100th of the traditional structures. Houses built using composite material can be constructed in just a few hours,” Gopalan said.
Referring to Home Minister G Parameshwara, who said pre-fabricated houses like Indira canteens will be promoted by the government, Gopalan said pre-cast cement slabs used in Indira canteens are very heavy and require use of cranes to construct homes. Knowing the soil condition of the flooded areas, it is advisable not to use heavy structures in Kodagu, the scientist said.
Light-weight material gives excellent thermal insulation unlike Indira canteens, which will be like a hot oven.
Gopalan, along with other scientists, travelled across the ravaged areas of Kodagu to assess the situation. The team met the incharge secretary and the incharge minister for Kodagu in this regard. The team has constructed 65 taluk hospitals in North Karnataka in a span of five months and has built houses in flood-affected areas of the region.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Top Karnataka Stories / by Poornima Nataraj, DH News Services,Bengaluru / September 08th, 2018
Before the rains started, coffee planters in Coorg were talking of a good crop —the plants were well rested after a lean year and went through the process of blossoming and forming fruits. That settled, seasonal certainty is gone with the wind and merciless lashings of torrential rain.
HELPLESS / A planter contemplates nature’s carnage where once existed a fecund patch / PHOTOGRAPH BY AJAY SUKUMARAN
A fully-done crossword puzzle is on the table next to Chitra Subbaiah who confesses that she could forego reading the newspaper, but not the crossword. We are in the cottage of a home-stay in Madapura, north Coorg, resplendent in the evening sun—the first day in two months that the rain has let up. It brings some relief from fear. Chitra, nearing eighty, recounts a painful experience with great fortitude. “You have to do some mental jugglery, you know. You can’t curse your fate.” She’s staying in a friend’s cottage because her home, in the neighbouring village of Hattihole, now lies beneath a pile of earth which slid down the hillside, burying everything she owned.
“Wiped out, totally. I don’t have one pin. There is nothing to say there was a house,” she tells Outlook. All she could reach out for in time were her spectacles, medicines and some gold the workers from her coffee estate had entrusted her with safekeeping. The workers’ quarters on her coffee estate too went down. Fortunately, they had time to move out. She points to others in the same situation. “At least I can rent a house and stay. What about so many others, who have nothing,” she asks.
Before the rains started this year, coffee planters in Coorg were talking of a good crop—the plants were well rested after a lean year and went through the process of blossoming and forming fruits.
The scene at a typical Coorg coffee estate / PHOTOGRAPH BY GETTY IMAGES
That settled, seasonal certainty is gone with the wind and merciless lashings of torrential rain. It rained heavily through July and August in this region of south Karnataka bordering Kerala. Then, in late August, came a series of punishing cascades of sodden earth. Now, there’s a trail of ruin in these charming hills, where landslides have swept off whole villages, re-arranged estates and shattered its economy. With immediate rescue measures tapering off, one question hangs limply in the air: where do you start picking up the pieces?
“I can’t plant anything now on my land, that’s for sure,” says K.U. Erappa, standing in his camouflage gumboots in a relief camp inside Madikeri’s old fort where, grouped with several families, he has been staying for days now. “All that’s left of my coffee plants are just stalks,” Erappa says. His ageing mother walks up to say, “We had a small house, but it was pretty.” Their grief is palpable. Erappa owned a few acres of coffee and paddy in Mukkodlu, one of the hardest-hit places in north Coorg, in the vicinity of district capital Madikeri. Much of Coorg is remote, away from the main-travelled roads. Like others, Erappa has been going back to salvage what he could. His three children, like most kids from his village, have been sent away to a temporary residential facility in a school in Ponnampet town at the southern end of the district. “We never dreamt Coorg would come to this,” says N. Bose Mandanna, a planter from Suntikoppa.
Right now, a full picture of the damage isn’t available, though it is being estimated. Planters like Mandanna reckon that at least 5,000-7,000 acres have been wiped off in the landslides. For the plants still standing, there’s the danger of wet feet and black rot—water-logging at the base of the plant that strangulates it, causing leaves to fall off. “When leaves are lost, next year’s crop is also lost,” says Mandanna. Coorg, with about one lakh hectares in cultivation, accounts for close to 40 per cent of India’s coffee production. The 2017-18 post-blossom estimate was 1,33,500 metric tonnes, most of which is exported, Italy being a top destination. To make matters worse, prices, say market watchers, have been at historic lows. Brazil is harvesting a good crop this year and so will Columbia and Vietnam.
The desolation on the spot after the landslide / PHOTOGRAPH BY AJAY SUKUMARAN
“International prices have gone (down) to levels last seen in 2006. We are getting a lot less now, if you factor in the inflation,” says Ramesh Rajah, president of the Coffee Exporters Association. Prices depend on the big three producers—Brazil, Columbia and Vietnam—which account for over 70 per cent of the global production. “Only if there are supply shocks in the big three will there be impact in international prices. India can lose one third or even half its production and the international market is not going to blink,” says Rajah.
In the mid-nineties, Coorg coffee saw a boom when prices rose because of a supply shortage in Brazil whose production, apart from being vulnerable to frost, was considered inefficient then. The boom years lasted a decade until trends began to reverse. Owing to hilly terrain, Coorg can’t mechanise the way Brazil did. So, it has been grappling with high labour costs. Nor can other crops be sown, as coffee plants need trees for shade. Many Kodavas, as Coorg’s natives are called, concede the difficulty in maintaining plantations. The symptoms, many say, have been showing—an ageing population, a younger generation that has been migrating to cities and bits of land being sold to meet expenses, the latter contributing to a social churn in the highlands. This devastating blow came on top of all this.
The future, many say, is bleak. First, the question of land lost, by no means an easy task, given the complexities that involve verifying claims, boundaries and so on. “Let the government acquire the property. See the record, settle them,” says planter Mittu Chengappa, who’s also a Karnataka Congress general secretary. His suggestion, that the government acquire private land ravaged by landslides for afforestation so that owners can begin afresh elsewhere, has been voiced by many. Unlike neighbouring Chikmagalur—where coffee was first grown in India—there are more small growers in Coorg, many owning only a few acres.
Chitra Subbaiah’s house in her estate in Hattihole village
Even for those who didn’t lose land, replanting will be a big financial burden, says Rajah. Besides the upfront cost, it would mean a five-year wait for yields. “So, how will they sustain themselves for five years? What does he do about infrastructure within the farm, workers’ houses, his house?” asks Rajah. Coffee planters have always weathered difficult years, but the destruction this year is unprecedented. “Some years, the crop yield is sharply lower because of lack of rain or excess rain. But this is the first time we have actually seen this sort of damage where infrastructure is damaged. It’s going to be very difficult in the short term,” reckons Rajah. In the long term, he says, every producing country is bleeding, so things can be pulled back to a degree by increasing efficiency. Of course, primary rehabilitation remains a priority; the process of replanting will take place slowly.
“The other thing is the labourers are not coming back. We are still in a state of flux, a dilemma as to what’s going to happen. There are a lot of issues, it’s very fluid,” says Nanda Belliappa, a coffee grower from Hattihole who has to now walk half a kilometre inside his property to reach his house, as the road leading to it is blocked. The Hatti, a stream outside his gate—where once a Malayalam film was shot—has beached fallen tree trunks ashore. “The neighbours’ coffee plants and trees are on our road…it’s unbelievable,” says his wife Anitha. In villages in these parts, the conversations go from rain to earthquake—many planters say they heard loud booms and felt tremors, but officials say no seismic event was captured.
Bose Mandanna too says he won’t be so pessimistic as to say that the coffee industry won’t claw back. But he’s doubtful about the prospects of a full recovery in North Coorg. “This area cannot come back in a hurry,” he says. Last weekend, as the evening drew on, Madikeri wore a deserted look—tourism has stalled and hotels are ordered not to take in travellers for some time. “Every night, there’s fear that the hill will come down on your head,” says Mandanna. The Kodava harvest festival Kailpodh, when they worship their guns, went by this week. Says Mandanna, “Nobody was interested in the festival. Coorg has become like a funeral parlour.”
source: http://www.outlook.com / Outlook / Home> The Magazine> Business / by Ajay Sukumaran / September 17th, 2018
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