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In News
- As per data, India’s arabica coffee production will drop by 30% and robusta by 20% this harvest season ending January.
Major reason for this drop
- Excessive rainfall,
- Plant damage,
- Bean splitting and
- Berry dropping
Coffee Cultivation
- Climatic Conditions:
- Coffee plants require a hot and humid climate with temperatures ranging between 15°C and 28 °C and rainfall from 150 to 250 cm.
- Frost, snowfall, high temperature above 30°C and strong sun shine is not good for coffee crops and is generally grown under shady trees.
- Dry weather is necessary at the time of ripening of the berries.
- Stagnant water is harmful and the crop is grown on hill slopes at elevations from 600 to 1,600 metres above sea level.
- Well drained, loams containing a good deal of humus and minerals like iron and calcium are ideal for coffee cultivation.
- Facts:
- Karnataka alone accounts for around 80% of the country’s total coffee production.
- India currently has over three lakh small and medium coffee farmers.
- India ranks 6th among the world’s 80 coffee producing countries, with some of the finest robusta and some top-notch arabica cultivated.
- The cultivation is mainly done in the Southern States of India:
- Karnataka – 54%
- Kerala – 19%
- Tamil Nadu – 8%
Image Courtesy: Coffee BI
- Nearly 70% of India’s coffee is exported, largely to European and Asian markets.
- Coffee in India is traditionally grown in the rainforests of the Western Ghats in South India, covering Chikmagalur, Kodagu (Coorg), Wayanad, the Shevaroy Hills and the Nilgiris.
- India is the only country in the world where the entire coffee cultivation is grown under shade, hand-picked and sun dried.
Challenges faced by coffee industry
- Rising cost of production:
- The cost of coffee production has been rising 10%-15% annually as wage and input costs were on a constant rise.
- Over the last few decades the loss of forest cover has resulted in environmental degradation and costs of inputs such as fertiliser, labour wages, pesticides and fuel has drastically increased.
- Diseases:
- Plant loss due to white-stem borer disease, the yield has also come down significantly.
- Climate change:
- Excessive rainfall played spoilsport for coffee plantations across the country. Because of early blossom showers in February, the crop was ready for harvest in October itself, instead of November.
- Shortage of skilled labour:
- Coffee cultivation requires plenty of cheap and skilled labour for various operations including sowing, transplanting, and pruning, plucking, drying, grading and packing of coffee.
- But in India there is an acute shortage of skilled plantation labour.
- Stagnation in bulk coffee prices:
- There is also stagnation in bulk coffee prices which has pushed the small growers who constitute 98% of coffee production to other avenues like coffee resorts, intercropping with pepper, etc.
Blossom Showers
- They are also called pre monsoon rains.
- Blossom Showers occur mainly during the March- May months, i.e., before the arrival of monsoon into India. Therefore, they are also called the April Rains.
- Blossom Showers in Kerala, help in the flowering of plantation crops like Coffee and Tea.
GI Tags to different coffee varieties
- Coorg Arabica coffee, grown specifically in the region of Kodagu district in Karnataka.
- Wayanad Robusta coffee, grown specifically in the region of Wayanad district which is situated on the eastern portion of Kerala.
- Chikmagalur Arabica coffee, grown specifically in the region of Chikmagalur district which is situated in the Deccan plateau, falling under the Malnad region of Karnataka.
- Araku Valley Arabica coffee, can be described as coffee from the hilly tracks of Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha region grown at an elevation of 900-1100m Mean Sea Level (MSL). This variety is produced by the tribals.
- Baba budan giris Arabica coffee, grown specifically in the birthplace of coffee in India. The region is situated in the central portion of Chikmagalur district. Selectively hand-picked and processed by natural fermentation, the coffee cup exhibits acidity, mild flavour and striking aroma with a note of chocolate. This coffee is also called ‘high grown coffee’ as it slowly ripens in the mild climate thereby acquiring a special taste and aroma.
- The Monsooned Malabar Robusta Coffee, a unique specialty coffee of India was given GI certification in 2018.
Source: TH
