The Union government has revised downward its estimate of coffee production by 4 percent to around 3,31,000 tonnes for this year, citing crop damage in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha due to continuous rains after a dry spell and the ‘Hud Hud’ cyclone. In its first estimate that assessed the crop post-blossom stage, the government’s Coffee Board had projected the overall coffee output around 3,44,500 tonnes for 2014-15 as against the actual output of 3,04,500 tonnes in the previous year. Though the latest production estimate for 2014-15 covering the crop condition post-monsoon period is higher by 8.7 percent compared with last year’s final output figures.
Of the total estimate of 3,31,000 tonnes, the Arabica output is estimated at 99,600 tonnes, while that of Robusta is 2,31,400 tonnes. The Arabica output estimate has shown a decline of 5,900 tonnes while Robusta declined by 7,850 tonnes over the post-blossom estimate of 2014-15.
Coffee output in Kerala has been pegged at 68,225 tonnes with a marginal decline of 650 tonnes from the first estimate. In Tamil Nadu, coffee output has been revised downward to 18,125 tonnes for this year, a marginal decrease of 250 tonnes from the first estimate.