Odisha to agument coffee production 

Coffee farming is transforming the hilly tribal-dominated villages of Odisha’s Koraput district and so the state government has set a target to expand cultivation of the beans by 10 times in the next five years.

At present, coffee is grown on a large scale in Koraput only but as it is transforming the life of villagers so

the Agriculture department has decided to expand cultivation to districts of Rayagada, Gajapati, Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Keonjhar. – under a new scheme called ‘Coffee Plantation for Sustainable Livelihoods’.

Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment secretary Arabinda K Padhee said it has been planned to increase coffee cultivation in the state to nearly 40,000 hectare and coffee production to 20,800 metric tonne (MT) by 2030. While the government has made a budgetary provision of Rs 126 crore for Coffee Mission, the scheme will require around Rs 1,406 crore.

Koraput district, located at a height of 3,000 feet above sea level, is ideal for coffee cultivation due to its cool climate and rainfall.

In the coffee map of India, Odisha is a non-traditional coffee growing area. As per the Coffee Board of India statistics, coffee is currently planted over 4,339 hectare of land in the state of which 4,135 hectare is coffee bearing area. The best thing about coffee farming was its low maintenance and low cost factors.

Briefing about the plan of work Agriculture secretary said. He said the focus will be on tribal farmers and women self help groups (SHGs) along with private involvement as far as cultivation, production and value addition is concerned.