Coffee Output Seen Rising To 300,000 Tonne

India aims to boost coffee output to 300,000 tonnes by the year 2002/03 from the expected 232,000 tonnes in 1997/98, the Coffee Board said yesterday.

Coffee production has fluctuated between 180,000 tonnes to 220,000 tonnes per year in recent years due to a strong biennial cycle, Coffee Board Secretary Ashok David told an international forum.

However, the underlying trend is moderately positive and shows a slight annual acceleration, with an average annual increase in output of almost 4,800 tonnes in recent years, he said.

The country's coffee output is exported to over 40 countries, mainly Russia, Italy, Germany, the United States, Japan, and Poland.

In the year to March 1997, coffee exports totalled 181,237 tonnes, up from 170,990 tonnes in the previous year. Domestic coffee consumption is about 60,000 tonne.