Pipeline maintenance work at the Poomaale Collective in Coorg. In frame – Pavan Changappa, farm supervisor at the estate.

Work on a farm never stops, come rain or sun. 

But how does life on a 100+ acre coffee estate go on when the mighty Coorg rains pours down?

Read the rest of the blog to learn what it takes to run a 100+ acres coffee estate in Coorg during the most ‘unmanageable’ rainy days.

What is Coorg Monsoon Typically Like?

During the monsoon season in Coorg, Karnataka, the region experiences heavy and consistent rainfall, typically from June to September, with the annual rainfall ranging from 2,500 to 3,500 mm (100 to 140 inches in total). This abundant rainfall transforms the Coorg landscape into a lush, vibrant, and picturesque setting. The hills and valleys become covered with thick, forest-green vegetation. While the rainforests are in their prime, the several coffee estates and plantations in Coorg rejoice in the rains, soaking each shower and slowly ripening.

Coorg is renowned for its coffee production, and this characteristic monsoon is what makes the location ideal for coffee cultivation in India. The sustainably grown Bewild coffee growing at our 128-acre Poomaale Estate are a product of the region’s rains and its biome. The monsoon is also when you can find the biodiversity of the region come to life. Situated in the Western Ghats, many species of plants and animals thrive during this time, making it an excellent season for nature enthusiasts to explore the area’s diverse flora and fauna.

While the ‘magical’ monsoon brings several benefits to the region, it also poses many challenges when it comes to estate management and operations, especially of a scale as big as the Poomaale Estate, Beforest’s 1st Wilderness Collective. This year (2023) was the first one with many parallel operations running, like hospitality at the Blyton Bungalow, permaculture interventions in the existing coffee blocks and construction of farm infrastructure and homes of the members of the Poomaale Collective, making it particularly challenging to manage the estate for the same reason. 

Pausing Life: Estate Activities That Were Temporarily Closed

During the peak monsoon months, July & August, the estate was engulfed in heavy rains and chilly winds. Hence, keeping the visitors’ safety, comfort & convenience in mind, we temporarily shut our forest-friendly guest house, the Blyton Bungalow, which is one of the revenue generators for the community of Poomaale. 

Besides hospitality, we halted most of the farm operations too, with only essential maintenance work and clearing of pruned coffee blocks taking place. Civil construction projects were also put on hold due to the challenging weather conditions, including the Management Guest House, the Cattle shed & a couple of homes of our Poomaale 1.0 members came to a halt.. The permanent bridge construction also stopped mid-way, due to which we had to take alternate longer routes to reach the other areas of the estate that lay on the other side, if needed. However, we constructed a temporary bridge in August as we reopened the Blyton Bungalow at the end of August 2023.

Keeping Up With the Mighty Coorg Monsoon

Although most activities were on hold, our team continued to carry out the mandatory upkeep of the estate. Right before the peak monsoon arrived, our team built a hume-pipe bridge over a stream at the Poomaale 2.0 collective, all while soaking wet in rain. If we hadn’t done it at that time, the stream would have flown over the temporary bridge we had and the access to the entire estate would have been cut. Hats off to our team who completed the construction just within 2 days. Their work spirit inspires us each day, each season.

Road maintenance is a top priority during monsoon. Weeding along the roads, in particular, is important as rainy days catalyse the growth of weeds. Hence our team is on its toes on dry days or brief dry spells during the rainy season to carry out weeding along the main pathways, while clearing fallen branches and stems. Any fallen trees also need to be removed immediately to prevent power outages. This July (2023) we faced a 4-day power outage due to a fallen tree on someone else’s property. During these periods of heavy rains, all we can do is coordinate with concerned parties to try to fix such issues at the earliest.

Even on the rainiest days, we regularly check essential elements like water pipelines, power, and accessibility. While we wait for a dry day to start weeding, our team braves deep waters to carry out pipeline maintenance work as it cannot be postponed. These tasks are necessary but also risky, so we assign them to skilled locals who understand the landscape. We also take safety measures like working in groups of two or more and using ropes for support.

Before the monsoon this year (2023), we upgraded the monsoon gear for our entire on-ground staff. They now have gum boots and waterproof pants and jackets, which are more comfortable and practical than regular overcoats, ensuring they can work efficiently in wet conditions.

Pre-Monsoon & Post-Monsoon Activities at a Coorg Coffee Estate

Most estates conduct weeding post-monsoon and again just before the harvest to make room for the tarp sheets used during harvesting. In Poomaale, we have been performing coffee weeding once a year – post monsoon. Along with weeding, we also carry out a desuckering of coffee bushes to maintain their health. Moving forward, depending on growth, we might do an additional round of partial weeding just before the harvest, focusing on specific patches as needed.

Besides the maintenance of the coffee blocks, we also completed permaculture-related earthworks like pit making and digging in the food forest patch, and trenching in one of the coffee forest blocks, before the monsoon. In areas like the Hyderabad Collective, planting is done during or just before the monsoon so that the saplings receive the required amount of water. However, in places with heavy rainfall like Coorg, we avoid planting during the monsoon as young saplings may not survive the force of the rains here. Even if we plan to plant pre-monsoon, we do it at least a month before monsoon sets in, during May, to allow saplings to establish themselves in the soil.

This year, due to a bridge construction delay, we couldn’t plant saplings as planned before the monsoon, so we decided to plant them after the rains subside in November.

Unpredictable Climate & its Effects on the Coffee Estate Management

July 2023 was the most difficult monsoon period for us at the estate. We received 30-35 inches of rainfall over 3 days, and another week with 20-25 inches over 3-4 days. Whereas in the next month, we saw a steep fall in the rains. In August 2023, our estate received 51 inches less rainfall than the previous year. This dry spell wasn’t just in Coorg but across the country, making it the driest August in over 120 years. The reduced rainfall affected the plants and water availability. While the immediate impact on the larger ecosystem may not be evident, the lack of rain means the grasslands wouldn’t have grown as much as required. The streams that flow down to the estate originate in the high altitude grasslands, such as the Shola Grasslands, which provide water to the entire southern India. This, in turn, affects the crop yield.

To counter the impact of this irregular rainfall, we’re planning to expand our two ponds to store more water and create additional wells. This way, we won’t solely rely on stream water but also tap into groundwater, which can replenish annually, ensuring a more consistent water supply.

Seasons Come & Go, Lessons Remain

Our experience during this year’s monsoon taught us the importance of better planning for civil works and water management. This can improve our operations during the following monsoons and ensure basic necessities for the on-ground team during extreme weather conditions. 

While we learnt a few lessons, we also observed some of our efforts moving in the right direction. Over the months, leaves and soil matter flew down the slopes and gathered in the trenches we had made in the coffee blocks, just as we anticipated. This marks the beginning of the micro-climates we plan to create within the coffee blocks of the estate. We also didn’t see any landslides or particularly high soil erosion in the estate. 

Most importantly, a good team makes a good place. We have always known the importance of teamwork, but it only gets reinforced during adversities. Our biggest strength lies in our combined effort to overcome any farm challenges, big or small.