HASSAN: Coffee planters have opposed the Union government’s decision to allow 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in coffee plantations saying the move would prove detrimental to small planters.
Urging the government to consider the pros and cons of allowing FDI in coffee plantations, president of Karnataka Growers Federation, B.S. Jairam expressed fear that with FDI, a time might come when small growers would be forced to sell their estates to foreign investors and work in their estates as labourers. According to him, small growers manage about 98 per cent of the estates in Karnataka. Once FDI gets the nod, these investors might start to dictate terms to planters on the use of manure, seeds, pesticides and other inputs. This would make it difficult for small growers to maintain estates, he said.
The Union government is of the view that FDI in coffee plantations would help in bringing investors, traders and machinery which would help coffee growers. But Mr Jairam says, “In Malnad, where coffee is grown in the shade along with pepper vines, the use of machinery will damages the vines. Here, conditions are not like those in Brazil.”
Asked about the opposition to FDI in coffee plantations, BJP MP representing Chikkamagaluru-Udupi, Shobha Karandlaje said, “I have no idea about this, I will study it before making a statement.”
Download the all new Deccan Chronicle app for Android and iOS to stay up-to-date with latest headlines and news stories in politics, entertainment, sports, technology, business and much more from India and around the world.
