{
  "id": 13886252,
  "title": "Policy, production concerns dominate KPA annual media briefing",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/policy-production-concerns-dominate-kpa-annual-media-briefing",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-12T05:23:47.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Hindu",
    "slug": "the-hindu",
    "url": "https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/policy-production-concerns-dominatekpa-annual-media-briefing/article71572058.ece"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Karnataka Planters’ Association (KPA), representing over 70% of India’s coffee growers, has raised concerns over the Centre’s draft Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) notification ahead of its Annual General Meeting. President Salman Baseer urged the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to consider the body’s objections since 2012. The draft ESA aims to protect 56,825.7 sq km of the mountain range, but states like Karnataka, Kerala, and Goa oppose it, citing inaccuracies in satellite mapping that include inhabited areas and private lands, threatening livelihoods. Anil Mathew, vice president of UPASI, highlighted the lack of clarity around agricultural use, requesting a non-restrictive clause for agriculture. The KPA also seeks exemptions for eco-friendly estate processing and regulated local resource extraction. Globally, coffee markets remain volatile due to geopolitical and weather risks, with global production estimated at 178.83 million bags for 2025-26, up 2 million bags from the previous year. Karnataka leads India’s coffee production and exports, with the government’s initial estimate targeting 2.79 lakh metric tonnes for the state. However, Baseer warned of downward revisions due to erratic rainfall, uneven monsoons, and pests. Karnataka’s pepper production fell 4% year-on-year, but prices surged to ₹718.32 per kg in January–June 2026, driven by a 19.4% recovery in Indian green cardamom production to 24,715 tonnes, with Karnataka contributing 949 tonnes.",
  "summary": "UPASI points out a critical lack of clarity in the draft Western Ghats Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) notification. While the preamble states that land can be used for agricultural purposes, this must be explicitly codified into the operative part of the notification, it insists",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}