66th annual meeting of the Karnataka Planters Association was held on the city’s outskirts recently where issues, such as the ‘European Union Deforestation Regulations (EUDR), which are being perceived as a significant threat to farmers, and the updates on new technologies were discussed and several experts presented their insights during the meeting.
Subject expert Ketan Patel addressed the European Union’s decision to impose several restrictions on products linked to deforestation starting December 2025.
He said that this decision by the European Union has raised significant concerns among farmers worldwide, including those in our country. With 70% of India’s coffee exports going to EU countries, this poses a major challenge.”
Amit Pant from Tata Group provided an overview of the global coffee market, cautioning that Uganda was making rapid progress in Robusta coffee production. He warned that if the quality of Indian coffee declined, Uganda could potentially overtake India’s position in the global market.
Later, association’s current president K G Rajeev handed over the leadership to the newly-elected president. A Aravind Rao, Salman Basheer was elected the new vice-president.
The meeting was attended by president of the United Planters’ Association of Southern India (UPASI) C Mathew Abraham, vice president Ajay Thippayya, UPASI Coffee Committee Chairman Sahadev Balakrishna, UPASI general secretary R Sanjith and Coffee Board Chairman MJ Dinesh.
