Coffee, areca farmers worry about rot disease risk amid rain

Chikkamagaluru: Continuous rainfall over the last three days in Chikkamagaluru and Hassan districts has heightened fears of rot disease in coffee and areca crops.

Planters are gearing up to apply Bordeaux mixture for the third or fourth time this year, following earlier crop damage caused by unseasonal rainfall.

The rot disease is spreading to areca nut, a major commercial crop in the Malnad region, leaving farmers distressed. Many farmers sprayed Bordeaux mixture in the first week of June and then in late July. However, continuous rain for a month increased soil moisture, and the rot disease appeared in most plantations.”

We sprayed Bordeaux twice in two months and plan to spray again. The rot disease has already started affecting the areca nut cultivation, said Arun, a farmer from Kudregundi.

Last year, many farmers lost 60% of their crops to the disease. Even though timely spraying was done this time to save the crop, the rain is creating a favourable environment for the disease to spread.

For the past five days, there has been heavy rain in the region, causing water to stagnate in the areca nut plantation drains. The excessive moisture is rapidly spreading the rot disease.

This year's arecanut yield is low, and arecanut is now fetching a good price, but farmers fear that the rain will prevent them from harvesting this year's crop.

Likewise, farmers are concerned about Arabica coffee ripening prematurely, and it may turn bitter this season. The ripening coffee is being hit hard, with concerns that the coffee berries may fall off. Farmers are facing difficulties as they are unable to harvest the ripening coffee due to the rain, said Deepak, a planter.