Meeting on relief package implementation for coffee growers

Chikmagalur, July 17: The Union Commerce Ministry will soon convene a meeting of Nationalised Bankers, Reserve Bank of India, Coffee Board and representatives of various Coffee Planters Associations on effective implementation of relief package in Coffee growing areas in Karnataka.

Ruling out the possibility of waiver of loan, Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh, addressing Coffee growers in Chikmagalur, Sakaleshpura, Madikeri during his recent tour to know first hand, the difficulties faced by the growers, said he would convene a meeting in Bangalore shortly and try to sort out the problems faced by the growers.

Following complaints that Banks were not implementing the Package properly under which all interest on overdue loans were waived upto June 2007, Mr Ramesh said ''the demand for complete waiver of loans due to drought condition that prevailed from 2001 to 2005 was not possible. However, a meeting of Bankers, with Reserve Bank of India officers would be convened soon to solve the problem.'' Various Coffee Planters and Growers Associations in their memoranda submitted to the Minister alleged that to waive off the interest on overdues, the Banks were creating another loan putting additional burden on the growers. They also complained that due to heavy rain in their region, crops were badly affected and the banks were not prepared to give fresh loans.

Responding to a demand that the crop insurance should also include loss due to heavy rain, he said for the first time the Karnataka government had come forward to include Coffee as state subject and the matter had been raised by the Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently.

''As I understand a Central team may visit Karnataka for spot study and they may visit Coffee growing areas, including Chikamagalur, Hassan and Madikeri districts where heavy rain was reported,'' he added.

The Karnataka Growers Federation, Sakaleshapura, in its memorandum, said the rainfall from June 21 to July 10 was between 50 to 110 inches besides heavy wind has uprooted large number of shade trees and also swirling of young coffee plants. The crop loss was between Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per acre. They appealed to the Commerce Ministry to evolve a mechanism to asses the damaged caused to the coffee plantation due to natural calamities, which does not exist now.

Responding to a demand by All India Coffee Curers Association, Chikmagalur for the revival of closed Curing Centers, Mr Ramesh said it was not possible to reopen them, but the Coffee Board would soon come out with a scheme to utilise them in better way, including using these centres as warehouses and involving private sector.

UNI