India coffee plants plagued by grasshoppers.

Like many other agricultural products the coffee industry is reliant on many natural influence and influxes, such as the weather, pests and fungus.

When these factors behave unexpectedly they can adversely affect crops and the income for farmers.

One big problem which has affected Central America particularly this year is coffee rust, which even led one country to declare a state of emergency.

There has also been news of Indian coffee farmers’ struggles in The Hindu newspaper recently.

What is happening to cause problems for these farmers?

Excessive rainfall aside (which will cause crop losses) in certain areas, there has also been a recent problem with grasshoppers affecting coffee farmers in parts of the Napoklu region.

These insects have swarmed all over the coffee farms in Kundyolanda Ramesh Muddaiah at Kolakeri and are chomping their way through the leaves and shoots of the coffee plants.

This is devastating many plants and causing much concern for the farmers.

An additional problem is that these grasshoppers appear to be pesticide resistant, due to excessive use of pesticides they have grown a tolerance and quite a taste for the plant that has blanketed their natural habitat.

There has been an appeal to the Coffee Board and to the government for aid for the farmers.

Constant tampering with the environment leads to these backlashes, one year its grasshoppers; next its frogs and toads, the only way to control this is to find farming practices that work with the environment not against it.

Also the evolution of plant strains will develop hybrids better suited for their environment instead of relying on one or two coffee plant types.