A coffee plantation in the range of 50, 000 hectares of land by 2030 is being envisaged by a collaboration of the department of Land Resources and the Coffee Board of India.
This was revealed by a secretary to the Government of Nagaland, Y Kikheto Sema, during a joint meeting of the department’s officials with the officials of the Coffee Board of India, under the Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry. The central team was led by Joint Secretary AP Anantha Kumar. The meeting was conducted at the Land Resources directorate in Kohima town Wednesday.
Joint Secretary Kumar said during the meeting that support would be given to the state government in its undertaking production for coffee. While assuring all possible support to the state government in its ‘massive coffee plantation drive,’ he however asked the Land Resource department to make proposals toward setting up an office of the board in Kohima.
Likewise, he suggested that the state seek enhancement of coffee seed allocation.
Also, according to Kikheto Sema, the department and other line departments would be undertaking a massive ‘coffee plantation drive’ in every district of Nagaland as the state has been declared geographically and topographically suitable for coffee by the coffee board.
The officials has requested the board’s officials to enhance the allocation of coffee seeds for the state and also to provide technical support and training of trainers and officials, who in turn would be able to train villagers in ‘achieving the target.’
Saying that the department had been encouraging local farmers to give up ‘jhum’ cultivation to engage in coffee plantation, Sema said that the slash-and-burn cultivation method does not offer ‘much dividend.’ However, coffee plantation, he said, will help in uplifting the rural economy besides improving the living standard of the rural people.
Further, maintaining that there was no scope in large and medium scale industries in the state, Sema expressed optimism in agro-based industries. The Land Resources department is undertaking only a few commercial crops such as coffee and rubber but they are crops feasible for the state, he said.
The official also said that the church being the ‘main institution’ in Nagaland, the department was contemplating involving the church in coffee plantation by providing them technical support.
Sema opined that the Coffee Board and any investors willing to come to the state should not have the ‘excuse’ of law and order situations as the state, he claimed, was ‘very peaceful.’
About the Coffee Board of India
During 1940’s, the coffee industry in India was in a desperate state due to the II World war resulting in very low prices and ravages of pests and diseases. At this time, the Government of India established the ‘Coffee Board’ through a constitutional act “Coffee Act VII of 1942” under the administrative control of Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The Board comprises 33 members including the chairman, who is the chief executive and appointed by the Government of India. The remaining 32 members represent the various interests such as coffee growing industry, coffee trade interests, curing establishments, interests of labour and consumers, representatives of governments of the principal coffee growing states, and Members of Parliament.
After pooling was discontinued in 1996, Coffee Board serves as the friend, philosopher and guide to the Coffee sector covering the entire value chain. The core activities are primarily directed towards research & development, transfer of technology, quality improvement, extending development support to growing sector, promotion of coffee in export and domestic markets.
The activities of the Board are broadly aimed at (i) enhancement of production, productivity and quality; (ii) export promotion for achieving higher value returns for Indian Coffee and (iii) supporting development of Domestic market. (Inputs: indiacoffee.org)
Get heady with these strange coffee facts
- Black Ivory coffee is the most expensive kind of coffee on Earth, and it’s made from poop. The most expensive coffee in the world is made from elephant dung, and it’s called Black Ivory coffee. It costs $50 per cup. Luwak, aka civet, coffee is made by feeding coffee beans to mongoose and then using its feces. It costs $160 per pound.
- The first webcam in the world was made for coffee. In 1991, a group of Cambridge University scientists set a camera on their work building’s coffee pot, streaming the footage live on the web so that they would be able to see if the pot was empty or not, saving themselves the disappointment of a coffee-less trip. The picture above is the actually from that first camera.
- Coffee houses were banned in England because that's where all the cool kids were drinking. Well, sort of. In 1675 King Charles II banned coffee shops because he thought that that’s where people were meeting to conspire against him. (Source:distractify.com)
(Al Ngullie, July 20, 2016; Eastern Mirror)
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