farmersTikeshwar PatelRaipur, Jan 14 (PTI) The Chhattisgarh government hasundertaken an innovative coffee plantation project in Darbharegion of insurgency-hit Bastar district in a bid to boost theincome of farmers.
The cash crop is raised on 20 acres of the governmentland under the Darbha development block, located around 35 kmsaway from Jagdalpur district headquarter on an experimentalbasis by the Jagdalpur horticulture college in collaborationwith the Bastar district administration.
Jagdalpur district headquarter is located around 350kms away from here.
"During research, the geo-climatic conditions ofDarbha, located at a height of around 654 meters above the sealevel and where around 100 mm rainfall occurs in summer, foundsuitable for growing coffee," Dr Krishna Pal Singh,Horticulture Scientist at the College of Horticulture andResearch Station, Jagdalpur, told PTI.
He said the regions like Bijapur and Kirandul(Dnatewada) in south Chhattisgarh, and Jashpur (northChhattisgarh) also have possibilities for coffee farming.
The ultimate plan was to bring about a change in thecropping pattern of farmers who traditionally depended uponcultivation of rice, Singh said, adding that farmers could notfetch a good return from paddy farming but a coffee plantationwould yield more revenue.
In the first phase of the project, 20 acres of landwas finalised on terrains of Darbha-Koleng road, he asid,adding that the fund was granted by the districtadministration under District Mineral Foundation (DMF).
The plantation was started in September last year ontwo acres of the land while the remaining 18 acres will becovered by May this year, he said.
Initially 'selection 8' variety of coffee Arabicaspecies was planted in two acres.
The Coffee Board of India, Bengaluru, has agreed toprovide seedlings of two improved varieties of coffee Arabica-Chandrgiri dwarf and selection 9, and one Coffee Robustavariety- CxR for further plantation, he said.
The Coffee Board took this decision after its teamrecently visited the plantation orchard, Singh said.
As many as 12 local farmers, including six women, havebeen involved in the cultivation after they were impartednecessary training.
"Besides, some of the farmers will be sent to theCoffee Research Station in Koraput (Odisha) for furthertraining so that they can take up coffee farming in theirfield and disseminate it to other farmers," Dr Singh said.
For the first three years of the project, the districtadministration has sanctioned a fund of Rs 60 lakh, he said.
The horticulture scientist said the coffee cultivationhad a span of 45 years once sown.
"Coffee beans (cherries) for commercial productionwill be ready from second year onwards. A small processingunit will be set up in future for processing beans into coffeepowder," he added.
The project has started attracting response of localfarmers who have approached the horticulture college to takeup the same plantation in their field.
A group of farmers from Mawlipadar village of Darbhablock has contacted us seeking assistance and guidance forgrowing coffee in around 40 acres of land in their village,Singh said.
Meanwhile, the college has also planned to plant bushpepper in the coffee orchard as an inter crop.
Bush pepper will be sown in gaps between two rows ofcoffee plants, Singh said, adding that the mixed cultivationof both crops would yield a handsome income for the farmers.
Farmers involved in the cultivation believe that theproject would give a new identity to Darbha--where a number ofstate Congress leaders were killed in a deadly Maoist attackon May 25, 2013 in its Jhiram valley area.
The district administration has plans to expand coffeeplantation in other places of the region if it would turnsuccessful.
"The coffee cultivation has been started on theexperimental basis and once we will get good results, it wouldbe later replicated in other suitable parts," Bastar CollectorDhananjay Dewangan said.
The collector further added that based on the resultsof the project, an action plan will be drafted that wouldbenefit the farming community. PTI TKPNSK.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.