The Hindu : Karnataka News : Rain evokes mixed reactions

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Wednesday, Feb 13, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Rain evokes mixed reactions

Correspondent

Arabica coffee growers hard hit; houses in low-lying areas flooded

Robusta coffee growers pleased at ‘unexpected bonus’
Rain has raised water levels in ponds and tanks

— Photo: PTI

Braving rain: Several low-lying areas in Chikmagalur were flooded on Tuesday.

CHIKMAGALUR: The sudden rain from the early hours of Tuesday in Chikmagalur district has evoked mixed reactions from farmers.

Harvesting of coffee berries is in progress and the processed coffee that has been spread out on drying yards has been extensively damaged owing to the rain. Some coffee beans have been washed away in the deluge. The quality of the partly dried beans has been affected.

Arabica coffee growers have been hard hit. Acute shortage of labour has delayed the harvesting of coffee. The untimely rain has caused the remaining coffee berries on the plant to drop.

Those that do not drop will split open and dry on the plant.

Affected

The next years’ crop has also been adversely affected. The plants usually flower during the first week of April and the heavy rainfall will cause shoots to grow in place of buds.

Robusta coffee growers are pleased at the “unexpected bonus”.

They were making preparations to start sprinkler irrigation on their plantations and the early rain has caused considerable savings in fuel and labour costs.

In the plains, most of the crops have been harvested and the rain has raised water levels in ponds and tanks. Some farmers who were in the process of threshing ragi crop have incurred some loss.

Help

The rain has helped arecanut and coconut plantations that were beginning to show signs of mite infestation. Several houses in low-lying areas have been flooded. Some schools declared a holiday in the afternoon as the roofs started leaking.

There have been no reports of loss of life or property in the district.

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