Karnataka Braces For Another Steep Fall in Pepper Output As Rains Ravage Vines

Map used for representation only; not to scale

Madikeri: Karnataka, India’s leading pepper-producing State, is heading into a second consecutive year of severe crop loss, with growers warning that the forthcoming 2026 harvest may register an even sharper decline than the previous season.

Pepper farmers according to The Hindu report that the State witnessed a dramatic 44.3% drop in yield during the 2024-25 crop year, and early indications suggest a similarly grim scenario for the harvest beginning in February 2026.

According to provisional estimates from the Spices Board, Karnataka’s pepper production is likely to shrink to 47,891 tonnes, compared with 86,000 tonnes recorded last year. The State cultivates pepper across 2,11,497 hectares, largely as an intercrop within coffee plantations in districts such as Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Hassan.

Nationally, pepper is grown on 3,09,363 hectares, and India’s output has swung dramatically in recent years—from 61,000 tonnes in 2019-20 to a high of 1.26 lakh tonnes in 2024. Production stood at 85,000 tonnes in 2025, and the International Pepper Community (IPC) has projected 74,000 tonnes for 2026. Kerala, the next biggest contributor, is also expected to face a 28.7% decline, Spices Board data shows.

Relentless rain devastates vines:

Farmers attribute the drastic fall in Karnataka to unbroken spells of rainfall from May until mid-November, which severely weakened pepper vines and accelerated multiple diseases including foot rot, anthracnose (pollu roga), leaf blight and quick wilt. In many estates, the vines were wiped out entirely.

“Continuous rain, poor sunlight and lower temperatures prevented proper spike formation, leaving us with undersized berries,” said Bose Mandanna of Subramanya Estate in Suntikoppa, who also represents the Coffee Board. He added that farmers were unable to apply fertilisers and fungicides due to waterlogged fields.

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Newly elected Karnataka Planters’ Association (KPA) Chairperson Salman Baseer noted that pepper vines are highly sensitive to stagnant water. “Several plantations received almost two-thirds of their annual rainfall in just three weeks of July. Such concentrated downpours suffocate the roots and destroy the plants,” he said. He also flagged emerging airborne infections drifting from Kerala into South Kodagu and Sakleshpur, worsened by diseases associated with large-scale ginger cultivation.

Former KPA chairpersons Aravind Rao and Shirish Vijayendra echoed these concerns, observing that excessive rainfall during flowering triggered fungal wilt and reduced panicle size.

ALSO READ: Explained | India’s Coffee Output Set for Record High in 2025–26, But Planters Warn of Weather-Hit Yields

Prices rise but fail to offset losses:

Pepper prices have inched up from ₹600–650 per kg last year to ₹650–700 per kg now, but growers say the increase does not reflect the steep fall in output due to higher imports from Sri Lanka and other origins under lower duty rates.

UPASI Coffee Committee Chairperson Sahadev Balakrishna estimated income losses of 20%–30%, with the final impact expected to become clearer in the coming weeks.

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