The Hindu : `Coffee production to be doubled in State'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 02, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

`Coffee production to be doubled in State'

By Our Special Correspondent

VISAKHAPATNAM, FEB. 1. The Coffee Board, in association with the Integrated Tribal Deelopment Authority(ITDA), Paderu, has programmed to develop coffee in 24,000 hectares in Andhra Pradesh during the Tenth Plan.

Announcing this at a press conference here on Sunday, chairperson of Coffee Board, Lakshmi Venkatachalam, said that the coffee development initiatives of the Coffee Board and other agencies in the State had fulfilled the objectives of protecting and developing forest cover in podu lands, wean away tribals from podu cultivation to stationary farming through coffee, and engage tribal growers by providing gainful employment.

Also, it helped uplift the socio-economic status of tribals and diversify sources of income through cultivation of coffee-based inter-crop like pepper as poverty alleviation programme, she stated.

Replying to questions, she said that coffee was being cultivated on 3.5 lakh hectares in the country and Karnataka stood first in coffee production. About 2.15 lakh tonnes out of a total production of 2.8 lakh tonnes was exported last year. The production in the State was expected to be doubled from the present 3,000 tonnes by the end of the X Plan, she said.

To enthuse people from taking to coffee, she said that a Coffee Festival and seminar was being held in the city to showcase tribal coffee that had been developed in the region. The multi-faceted festival would provide a forum to project coffee produced in the tribal sector of Andhra Pradesh, besides popularising the domestic coffee consumption in the country, she added.

A Coffee Run would also be organised on Tuesday as part of the festival, she said.

On the health issues connected with coffee consumption, Ms. Lakshmi Venkatachalam claimed that research during the last couple of decades showed that coffee was good for health and acted as a stimulant. The incidence of several types of cancer was rare among coffee consumers, she said. "We are making a technical presentation at Bangalore on February 14 for medical professionals to disseminate this information'', she said.

The Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, who was in the city to inaugurate the Coffee Festival, was also present during the press conference.

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