 "Jawaid Akhtar")
Following heavy rains in major growing regions in the country, the Coffee Board of India has scaled down its production estimate for 2013-14. Jawaid Akhtar, chairman of the Coffee Board, in an interview with Mahesh Kulkarni, talks about the board’s plans. Edited excerpts:
The Coffee Board has estimated FY14 output at 3,47,000 tonnes. Considering the diseases and excess rains across growing regions, is this achievable?
This is not our final projection. It is only a post-blossom estimate, based on the conditions prevailing in February and March. We had good blossom showers. But subsequently, we had two months of drought, followed by heavy rains between June and August. Monsoon rains started on time and remained active, affecting crop prospects. However, a realistic picture would emerge after the post-monsoon estimates. As of now, we anticipate a drop of about 10% over the post-blossom estimates.
Where, according to you, would coffee production stand this year?
As I said, we would come to know about it once we complete the post-monsoon survey and prepare the estimates. It is too early to guess.
When would the Board come out with realistic projections?
We will conduct a survey in major coffee-growing regions in October, after the monsoon season ends, and announce the findings towards the end of October.
What is the average productivity in India and the annual growth in production compared to the growth in consumption?
The average national productivity is 852 kg a hectare. Production is growing at an average 1.76%, while domestic consumption is growing 1.35%.
What are the major challenges and priorities before the Coffee Board?
Augmenting production and retaining export share, while meeting domestic demand are our major challenges and priorities. We are also facing stagnation in productivity, which is affecting cost competitiveness. In many areas, we are facing shortage of labour and skill deficit.
How do you propose to tackle these challenges?
We are addressing these issues by replanting and expanding in traditional areas. We are also taking up plantation in non-traditional areas such as Andhra Pradesh. In traditional areas, the Coffee Board has proposed taking up planting across 15,000 hectares.
In Andhra Pradesh, we are planning to cultivate in about 25,000 hectares with the active support of the state government. In Himachal Pradesh, we are collaborating with the agriculture university for a pilot project. We are also planting coffee in about 5,000 hectares in West Bengal, with the help of the state government. All these plans are being taken up during the 12th five-year Plan.
To tackle the labour shortage issue, the board has proposed continuing the subsidy scheme for mechanisation and developing new planting designs to suit mechanisation in the 12th Plan. We are also strengthening our extension machinery by creating a position of director of extension to disseminate new research findings to growers.
What are the recent initiatives taken by the Coffee Board to fight diseases on plantations?
We have initiated a collaborative project with institutes under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to develop eco-friendly approaches for the management of white stem borer.
We are also collaborating with the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore; the National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Insects, Bangalore; and the National Research Centre for Banana, Trichy, for the new research.
A mission mode action programme to control white stem borer was implemented in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In traditional coffee-growing regions, we have launched a collaborative project with the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning on Soil Fertility Appraisal and Soil Health Monitoring to prepare soil health cards.
A memorandum of understanding has been signed with the Regional Remote Sensing Centre-South and the Indian Space Research Organisation for taking up an inventory of coffee plantations using geo-spatial techniques.
What are the new programmes coming up this year?
We would organise the International Coffee Festival at Bangalore on January 21-23 to promote our coffee.
What is the allocation for the coffee sector in the 12th Plan and how long would it take to get the schemes approved by the Planning Commission?
The Planning Commission has allocated Rs 950 crore to the coffee plantation sector for the 12th Plan. We would meet sometime this month in Delhi to finalise the schemes and sub-schemes. There are many schemes such as expansion of area in traditional regions and the mechanisation programme that would be continued and expanded.
