India's state-run Coffee Board has cut its crop forecast for the year to September 2004 after poor rains for a second year in a row hit key growing areas, a government source said on Friday.
A government source who asked not to be identified told Reuters coffee production was put at 270,500 in the post-monsoon estimate, down from an earlier figure of 275,225.
The latest estimate compared with the 275,275 tonnes achieved in 2002/03, when output fell sharply from 300,600 in the previous year after a monsoon failure.
The latest post-monsoon estimate, which follows the post-blossom figure, puts arabica output at 101,950 tonnes, below the earlier estimate of 106,500, and robustas at 168,550 tonnes, from the earlier 168,725, the source said.
In 2002/03 India's arabica crop, the main export variety, stood at 102,125 tonnes and robustas at 173,150.
India produces about 4.5 percent of the world's coffee and exports some 70-80 percent of output.
Most Indian states have recovered from the nation's worst drought in 15 years in 2002, but many parts of Karnataka, the southern state accounting for about 70 percent of output, have faced their second drought in a row.
Growers said poor rains also affected neighbouring Kerala.
"There were no rains in the first four weeks of June. Blossom showers were not good in Karnataka," said Anil Bhandari, vice-president of the United Planters Association of South India.
"Indian coffee is in a bad way this year, he said. "We are getting reports from many districts that the volumes are down."
A Coffee Board official told Reuters that arabicas were particularly affected because low prices had resulted in a cutback in the use of inputs like fertiliser.
"Mainly the decline in output is in the case of arabicas," he said. "It is because arabicas are more vulnerable to rains. And there is also input reduction."
In 2002/03 India's coffee crop was also affected by borer disease.
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