Coonoor (Tamil Nadu), Sep 13 - Plantation owners from south India will deliberate on the effects of global recession on the exports of tea, coffee and spices among other issues during their annual jamboree beginning Monday in this small town atop the Nilgiri hills.

Organised by the United Planters' Association of Southern India (UPASI), the two-day conference will also discuss labour shortage in coffee and rubber plantations.

The plantation sector plays an integral role in the economy of three southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Predominantly, rubber, coffee and spices (pepper and cardamom) are grown in Kerala, tea in Tamil Nadu and coffee in Karnataka.

'There has been a remarkable turnaround in the prices of tea, coffee and spices since last year, with higher realisation in terms of unit value and exports earnings. But the financial crisis-induced global recession impacted the export of coffee, spices and, to an extent, tea,' UPASI outgoing president D.P. Maheshwari told IANS here.

Slowdown in the Indian economy also had a cascading effect on the quantum of sales, and higher retail prices staggered consumption levels of tea and coffee.

Ironically, the nine percent GDP (gross domestic product) growth for four years till fiscal 2007-08, driven largely by services and manufacturing sectors, had affected the plantation commodity sector, as demand for labour for construction and other activities led to migration of plantation workers to towns and cities.

'The younger generation of the plantation labour, empowered with education and exposure to the world of opportunities, are no longer interested in traditional pursuits. They are shifting from countryside to towns and cities in search of greener pastures,' Meda Ramappa, a coffee grower from Karnataka, lamented.

Barring tea, which is extensively grown in north Bengal, Assam and other north-eastern states, coffee, spices and rubber are primarily grown in southern India.