Adding further he said ” “We have been going through a difficult phase with heavy unserviceable debts, rampant pests and diseases such as coffee berry borer, white stem borer and leaf rust, shortage and high cost of fertilisers and high input costs, unpredictable weather conditions; all of which have resulted in significant crop loss,”.

KPA requested the Central Government & Coffee Board with assisting in Replanting costs, Mechanization of Plantations due to labor shortage and sharing the social costs involved in Plantations.

The unit value currently stands at Rs.201.58 per kg for 2010 -11, up from Rs.159.02 per kg in 2009-10.

The farmers in Coorg have been holding on to their stock for sometime now,  for better price realization.  Most of the domestic demand is being met by supply from Coorg.

The award was given on the basis of a survey conducted by the Departments of Agriculture and Horticulture, Govt of Karnataka.

The award was given on 13th November, at the Krishi Mela (farmer’s fair) conducted by the University of Agriculture  Bangalore. The prizes were given away by the Minister for Power Shoba Karanladje.

The rains, thanks to cyclonic storm Jal, lead to dropping of the ripe berries due to colder nights. Typically, the night temperature should be around 20 degree centigrade but over the last few days it has been around 16-18 degree centigrade.

“We are expecting a 20% drop in Arabica and a 10% shortfall in the Robusta crop,” said B Subramani, President of Kodagu Coffee Growers Co-operative Society.

Kodagu produces nearly half of the state’s coffee output and is a major producer of Robusta. As per Coffee Board estimates, the state is slated to produce around 2.19 lakh tonne.

Another disturbing fact is that a vast majority of the coffee plantations has no insurance although the Agriculture Insurance Company(AIC) has now extended cover for unseasonal rains. “Planters have resisted the idea of buying adequate cover though our company has now designed a product to specifically cover such eventualities.”

The last date for filling and submitting applications for the seeds  is  15th October 2010, according to the press release.

Coffee seeds will be priced at Rs. 200 per kilogram and those interested should pay through Demand Draft payable to, Coffee Board general Fund, Plan Fund Account payable at Bangalore.

The  Chandragiri variety, however, will be  restricted to 2 kilos per grower the press release added.

The reason for such short supply is not known. Most of the fertilizer dealers have expressed their helplessness and inability in getting Urea in time for application.

It has already been brought to the notice of the Agriculture Department and fertilizer companies by farmers, dealers and other users about the shortage. Farmers are solely dependent on Urea to get good  productivity which is solely responsible for sustaining their Agricultural activity. Short supply of this will effect in reducing the production, productivity and returns resulting in loss particularly as prices of Coffee and Agricultural Crops are highly volatile.

In this connection the Association had submitted Memorandums to the Joint Director of Agriculture, DC and other concerned authorities of Chikmagalur, Kodagu and Hassan districts to take appropriate steps to make available of this particular fertilizer without any further delay.

Unavailability will adversely affect Coffee and other plantation crop prospects for the current as well as for the coming year.

In 38 estates of Kodagu, under three different vegetation namely evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous, they examined the small, medium and large scale growers, he said. In these areas, the research workers identified the traditional coffee growing and various species of trees and birds, he added. Hence, it was decided to add 20 more groups in Kodagu undet the Certified Coffee, he added.

The Cauvery Sene has done what the Spices Board should have done long ago, The cauvery sene filed an application before the Asst. Director (dev) of the Spices Board Madikeri regarding  the propagation and preservation

The NGO Cauvery Sene & its convenor Ravi Chengappa have been instrumental in protecting Coorg Cardamom by getting GI certification for the same.

of a cardamom variety with coorg origin called the Manjarabad variety and locally known as the “MALAY YALAKKI”., this was in the year 2006, with the Spices Board obsessed with promoting alien strains of cardamom over the indigenous strain,this was easier said than done. The Spices Board  has over the past couple of decades preferred to propagate alien strains like Nalyani gold ,clone # 36 etc. at the cost of the Malay Yalakki. The import of the bold varieties of cardamom like the Guatemalan variety also spelt the doom of the Malay strain which was all but abandoned by the growers in favour of the quick growing and high yielding alien strains.

The Cauvery Sene spearheaded by its convenor, Ravi Chengappa, did not lose heart, instead he took the fight to the Spices Board, and a meeting was convened in Chennai to make the top brass of the Spices Board see sense , which they did  after a lot of acrimony resulting in the Controller General of Designs and Trade Marks New Delhi, issuing the all important Geographical Indicator (some thing like a patent) to the Manjarabad variety of Cardamom henceforth registered as “Coorg Green Cardamom” on 11/11/2009.

The Cauvery Sene hopes that with the patent awarded to the Cardamom of Coorg origin the Spices Board would  propagate this particular variety over the alien species, and as a beginning make available the saplings of this variety in all their nurseries in coorg .The Malay variety of cardamom is still grown in certain areas of coorg like Kaloor, Betahoor, Madenad, Monnangeri, and Bhagamandala, the Cauvery Sene convenor, Ravi Chengappa has warned that if in spite of all these efforts the Spices Board continues to ignore the indigenous species in order to propagate the alien species his organization would not hesitate to seek judicial intervention to protect the local species.

What is GI ?

A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g. a town, region, or country). The use of a GI may act as a certification that the product possesses certain qualities, or enjoys a certain reputation, due to its geographical origin.

For more on GI visit:

1. http://www.wipo.int/geo_indications/en/about.html
2. http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/gi_e.htm

The Minister further added that along with funds  for protecting and breeding of indigenous varieties of cows,  the government has sanctioned Rs. 23 lakhs for developing a  breeding  centre of the jersey breed of cows at Kudige.

The State Government has given its adminstrative permission to start two more veterinary colleges in the State from this academic year onwards, said Minister for Animal Husbandry Revu Naik Belamagi.

Reviewing the  progress of the veterinary  department at Madikeri, he said that the two colleges will come up at Athani and Gadag. Admitting that various posts in the department were lying vacant, he promised to fill them up as soon as possible.