By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Coonoor (Tamil Nadu) : Plantation owners from south India will deliberate on the effects of global recession on the exports of tea, coffee and spices among other issues during their annual jamboree beginning Monday in this small town atop the Nilgiri hills.
Organised by the United Planters’ Association of Southern India (UPASI), the two-day conference will also discuss labour shortage in coffee and rubber plantations.
The plantation sector plays an integral role in the economy of three southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Predominantly, rubber, coffee and spices (pepper and cardamom) are grown in Kerala, tea in Tamil Nadu and coffee in Karnataka.
“There has been a remarkable turnaround in the prices of tea, coffee and spices since last year, with higher realisation in terms of unit value and exports earnings. But the financial crisis-induced global recession impacted the export of coffee, spices and, to an extent, tea,” UPASI outgoing president D.P. Maheshwari told IANS here.
Slowdown in the Indian economy also had a cascading effect on the quantum of sales, and higher retail prices staggered consumption levels of tea and coffee.
Ironically, the nine percent GDP (gross domestic product) growth for four years till fiscal 2007-08, driven largely by services and manufacturing sectors, had affected the plantation commodity sector, as demand for labour for construction and other activities led to migration of plantation workers to towns and cities.
“The younger generation of the plantation labour, empowered with education and exposure to the world of opportunities, are no longer interested in traditional pursuits. They are shifting from countryside to towns and cities in search of greener pastures,” Meda Ramappa, a coffee grower from Karnataka, lamented.
Barring tea, which is extensively grown in north Bengal, Assam and other north-eastern states, coffee, spices and rubber are primarily grown in southern India.
With around 66 percent (1.1 million hectares) of the total plantation area (1.6 million hectares) in the country being in southern India, the region accounts for 84 percent (1.23 million) of total growers (1.47 million) and 57 percent (1.3 million) of total work force (2.28 million).
In terms of crop production, southern India accounts for 100 percent of spices (61,000 tonnes), 98 percent (257,315 tonnes) of coffee and 96 percent (832,500 tonnes) of rubber.
In tea, however, the region lags far behind the north-eastern states, with only 24.5 percent (238,742 tonnes) of the total (972,768 tonnes) production. Tamil Nadu accounts for 17 percent (165,017 tonnes) of the total tea produced.
As a corollary, south India is estimated to account for 66 percent (Rs.14,894 crore/Rs.149 billion) of the projected total value (Rs.22,714 crore/Rs.227 billion) of plantation commodities in the country this fiscal (2008-09).
Similarly, the share of south India in export value is estimated to be around 72 percent of the total value (Rs.6,025 crore/Rs.60.25 billion).
Though conventionally the union commerce minister or his deputy presides over the main function, slated Tuesday, Union Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge is the chief guest this time due to the pre-occupation of Anand Sharma with WTO negotiations in Geneva and in the absence of his deputy Jyotiraditya Scindia.
A full day session on plantations, including presentation by the respective commodity board chairmen and a technical session on energy conservation and sustainable agriculture will precede the main conference. About 800 delegates, including growers, curers, roasters, buyers and exporters from all the three states are participating in the 116th annual meet.