Centre to form study group on pest affecting coffee

Union minister of state for commerce Nirmala Sitharaman today held a brainstorming session with stakeholders of the coffee plantation sector and assured them of addressing some of their major concerns.

Among them are white stem borer (WSB) pest menace on Arabica coffee plantations, transfer of technology for manufacture of equipment used in coffee harvesting and pulping, amendment to Coffee Act, weather insurance for coffee growers and generic promotion of coffee.

Taking quick decisions on the spot on some of the urgent concerns, Sitharaman directed the ministry officials and the Coffee Board to immediately form a small group with members drawn from the coffee growing areas to understand the menace of WSB and come out with solutions.

"Arabica is very unique and the WSB menace is also very much unique to India. We will come out with the prevailing knowledge on WSB before the start of the next crop season. The group will work on developing permanent solutions for the pest menace in the due course of time," Sitharaman said.

The minister also directed the board to fix a meeting with insurance companies at the earliest to address growers' concerns on insurance payout.

"Coffee growers and planters have raised issues regarding the insurance payout. They are giving a lot of premium to insure themselves against adverse circumstances. But in doing so, they don't actually get any benefit during crisis due to tough terms and conditions of insurance companies. To have better understanding, I have instructed the ministry and coffee board to arrange a meeting with the insurance companies along with representatives of coffee growers," Sitharaman told reporters.

She said planters, especially small growers were facing acute shortage of labourers in the plantations and they were in need of machineries, which are imported by big planters.

But, to facilitate small planters, there is a need to transfer technology so that machineries could be made indigenously. The commerce ministry will soon facilitate transfer of technology and involve other ministries in this work, she said.

Sitharaman also stressed on the need to come out with quality production of coffee seeds and promotion of coffee both internationally and in the domestic market.

Speaking on the occasion, KJ George, home minister of Karnataka, stated the government would not evict coffee growers up to 10 acres of encroachment inside the Western Ghats.

"The chief minister has instructed deputy commissioners of all the districts, where coffee is grown, and strict guidelines have been issued not to evict coffee farmers up to 10 acres," he said.

He, however, said the government could not issue a written order in this regard due to a court judgment in this matter.

Earlier, various grower associations like Karnataka Planters' Association, United Planters' Association of Southern India, Karnataka Growers' Federation, All India Coffee Curers' Association, Roasters' Association of India, Indian Coffee Traders' Association, Coffee Exporters' Association, representatives from Nestle, Hindustan Unilever among others submitted their views and presented memoranda to the minister.