The harvesting of coffee has started much early in Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) district due to favourable weather conditions, according to officials.
While the area under coffee cultivation in all the 11 Agency mandals is about 2.45 lakh acres, the total harvested area is 2.05 lakh acres. It takes at least five years for a coffee plant to bear fruit.
As per the 2022-23 report, a total of 93,521 tribal people are involved in coffee cultivation, of which 2,600 are cultivating the top-grade variety.
About 8,000 acres of coffee crop is owned by the A.P. Forest Department, while the remaining is owned by the local farmers (tribal people). Each farmer may have two to three acres of coffee crop, and takes care of the plants from the planting to harvesting stage.
Speaking to The Hindu, Coffee Board of India Deputy Director (A.P., Odisha) Samala Ramesh said the stakeholders were expecting at least 15,000 tonnes of produce this year.
The yield increases every year as new plants reach the harvest stage. For example, the saplings planted in 2018 will be harvested this year along with the existing plants, he added.
“This year, the harvesting started early. This is a good sign for coffee growers and stakeholders. Our board provides technical support for healthy coffee plantations in the Agency. We are working under the slogan, ‘Seed to Cup’. The harvesting will continue till January 2024,” Mr. Ramesh said.
He further said that G.K. Veedi ranked first in coffee cultivation. It was followed by Chintapalli, Hukumpeta, Paderu, Dumbriguda, Anantagiri, Araku Valley, Pedabayalu, Munchingiputtu and Koyyur mandals. Arabica is the top variety grown in the Agency.
A local farmer, Vanthala Demudu, said that the government had given ₹285 per kg as the minimum support price for coffee seed the previous year. He said the government should increase the price as expenses increases every year.
The Girijan Cooperative Corporation is the government agency that purchases coffee beans from the farmers. It has started procuring coffee beans from the tribal farmers from 2015-16 by offering them competitive price.
In 2022-23, the GCC had fixed the procurement price at ₹285 per kg for Parchment coffee grade, ₹145 per kg for Cherry and ₹60 per kg for Robusta Cherry grade.
