The Coffee Board, under the Ministry of Commerce, has estimated a crop loss of around 82,000 tonnes for the crop year 2018-19 starting from October on account of heavy rains in the traditional coffee tracts across South India. This will mean that India's 2018-19 crop may be lower by at least 26% over the current year's crop size of 316,000 MT of which 95,000 MT is Arabica and 221,000 MT Robusta.
The board highlighted that the highest crop loss has occurred in Karnataka, the largest producer of the commodity, followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Further, it added that nearly 100 of its personnel have been working with the revenue administration, assessing the damage caused by the heavy rains in August.
However, the board is expecting that these losses may not affect prices -- which are decided on the basis of international demand and supply -- as global supply is already more than the demand at present.