Bengaluru, March 13:
Farmers in traditional coffee
growing regions of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala will now get
subsidies to bring in new areas under cultivation.
After
over three decades, the Government has decided to subsidise expansion
of area under coffee in these three traditional States, which account
for some 83 per cent of the total acreage of 4.15 lakh hectares.
While
coffee acreage has expanded significantly in the non-traditional areas
such as Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and the North-East, expansion has been
rather sluggish in traditional States.
The
non-traditional areas in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha account for about 15
per cent of the acreage and the North-East about 1.5 per cent. The
State-run Coffee Board believes in long-term potential of coffee as
consumption has picked up while production has begun to stagnate.
Ramping up
Domestic coffee consumption is pegged at around 1.15 lakh tonnes and is growing around 5-6 per cent annually.
According
to a survey by the Board, there is ample potential to bring in an
additional 18,000 hectares under coffee, said Jawaid Akhtar, Chairman,
Coffee Board.
Cultivation cost, subsidy
“It
is for the first time that we are bringing back subsidy for expanding
area in traditional areas after almost three decades,” he said. The
Board has pegged the planting cost for a hectare of Arabica at ₹1.75
lakh and for robusta at ₹1.25 lakh.
Farmers
expanding their acreage by up to two hectares will get 40 per cent of
the unit cost as subsidy, while those bringing in new areas of two to
ten hectares under coffee will get 30 per cent of the unit cost as
subsidy.
For farmers, adding over 10 hectares of new
coffee area will get 25 per cent of the unit cost as subsidy, said Y
Raghuramulu, Director of Research at Coffee Board.
Raghuramulu
said about 10,000-11,000 hectares of arecanut and cardamom growing
areas in pockets of Shringeri, Koppa and Sakleshpur taluks in Karnataka
could be brought under coffee cultivation.
Both arecanut and cardamom growers in these areas have faced problems in recent years due to pest and fungal diseases.
Similarly,
coffee cultivation could be expanded to three to four pockets of areas
around Kalrayan Hills in Salem district and Kolli Hills in Tamil Nadu,
Raghuramulu, who also heads the Balehonnur-based Central Coffee Research
Institute, said.
The move to subsidise the expansion
in the traditional growing regions is part of the 12th Plan proposal,
recently approved by the Centre. “Growers who have taken up coffee in
new areas from April 2014 could claim the subsidy,” Raghuramulu said.
Explaining
the rationale for the subsidy, he said the gestation period ranges
between four and five years for Arabica variety, while for Robusta it is
seven years. The subsidy will help farmers offset the losses during
these years.
Coffee stats
Raghuramulu said it
was important to expand coffee cultivation in traditional areas to meet
the rising domestic demand, while sustaining exports.
Traditional areas accounted for 97.4 per cent of the 3.04 lakh tonnes of coffee produced during 2013-14.
For
the current 2014-15 season, the Board – in its post monsoon estimates –
has pegged crop size at 3.31 lakh tonnes, about 8.7 per cent higher
than last year’s final estimate of 3.04 lakh tonnes.(Business Line)
कोई टिप्पणी नहीं:
एक टिप्पणी भेजें