As COVID-19 raged across the globe, leading to lockdowns in key markets such as the European Union, coffee exports from the subcontinent were stymied. A smaller crop made it a double whammy.
TREND
Expectations of a larger crop in 2020-21 (Oct-Sep) and rising at-home consumption have, however, led to hope of a resurgence.
“Coffee exports are slowly returning to normal… exports were affected because during the lockdown, due to logistic constraints, we were unable to move coffee beans from estates to curing works as only cured coffee is exported,” said Karnataka Planters’ Association Secretary Anil Savor.
According to Cogencis data, India’s coffee exports since the beginning of this year are down 11% on year at 257,107 tn. But with favourable weather conditions ahead of the beginning of harvesting next month, exporters and planters expect a bigger crop and, in turn, higher overseas sales.
“It (exports) will improve from January… Pent-up demand is not visible yet, but there should be a 5-10% improvement during Jan-Mar… given the low prices that farmers are getting, there will be rush to sell since they need cash flow requirement,” said Coffee Exporters Association President Ramesh Rajah.
India’s coffee year begins in October and growers start harvesting during Nov-Dec. According to India Meteorological Department data, the country received 9% above-normal rainfall during Jun-Sep, a positive for coffee plantations.
“In coffee production, one year you have less output, then the next year you have a bigger one, as coffee is basically cyclic. So, going by that, we think this year we have a good output,” Bengaluru-based exporter Prashanth Nagaraj said.
The market estimates coffee output in the 2020-21 season at 300,000-320,000 tn, sharply higher than an estimated 270,000-280,000 tn in 2019-20. The Coffee Board of India’s final production estimate of 298,000 tn for 2019-20 is well above market estimates.
The pandemic has completely changed the trend of coffee consumption across the globe, with a shift away from consumption in cafes.
“The overall market is dull… but it will improve because during the pandemic, there was a sharp drop in offtake but now, we are seeing at-home-consumption is increasing, so a large part of out-of-home consumption is being taken over by at-home consumption,” Rajah said.
“…Italians (demand from Italy) will come back to us. Jan-Mar, we don’t see a very big increase but in Apr-Jun, we see much more improvement… Also, West Asia, Germany, and other traditional markets will also buy from India.”
India may, however, face some competition as it sells the standard arabica variety at a premium of 30 cents per pound in international markets because of its superior quality compared to coffee from other parts of the globe.
Brazilians sell their produce at a discount of 20 cents per pound, former Coffee Board of India member Jaya Prasad H.B. said.
Brazil is the world’s top producer and exporter of coffee, while India is the seventh-largest grower.
With several positives on the horizon, Indian coffee exporters are hoping for sunny days ahead. End
US$1 = 73.36 rupees
Edited by Subham Mitra
source: http://www.cogencis.com / Cogencis / by S. Anirudh Iyer and Preeti Bhagat / October 13th, 2020
A sarpakaavu, or traditional sacred space for snakes, in Kerala. Photo: Manoj Karingamadathil/Wikimedia Commons CC BY SA 3.0
Underlying cultural and religious beliefs in serpent deities has played a role in protecting iconic animals such as snakes and other species dwelling inside the Western Ghats’ sacred groves. But these beliefs are eroding among youth and economic pressures are eating into the groves, threatening their very existence. Experts call for greater state government protection to preserve the groves’ legacy for the benefit of posterity.
For millennia, local communities in India have maintained sacred groves where they managed natural resources and many of these are tied to their cultural and religious beliefs. In the Western Ghats, such groves are relatively undisturbed patches of evergreen forests that sometimes have a pond, stream, or well that ensures perennial water supply. Often located outside of protected areas, sacred groves are rich in biodiversity, housing many threatened and endemic species of plants and animals. In many cases, these fragments are the only relict forests that remain outside the protected area system.
The mountain chain of the Western Ghats along the western coast of India is older than the Himalayan mountains; in 2012, 39 sites in the region were inscribed on the World Heritage Sites list by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). While India boasts the highest number of sacred forests globally, with estimates suggesting at least 100,000, the Western Ghats is endowed with a large concentration. Although many are undocumented, Kodagu district in the southern state of Karnataka alone was estimated to have 1,200 sacred groves.
Many of these verdant groves are associated with gods and are named after deities. The worshipping of serpent gods known as nāga plays a central role in many groves in Kerala known as sarpakaavu in Malayalam (snake garden or grove), and often house idols of serpent deities.
Worshipping involves unique rituals that are performed in sarpakaavu and temples with serpent deities. One common ritual involves pouring a preparation of water, milk, rice powder, and turmeric on the deities and devotees call this offering as ‘Noorum palum’, said Dileepkumar R., director of Indriyam Biologics Pvt. Ltd., Jayakumari Kunjamma, senior research fellow at the University of Kerala who has also authored a book on snake worship in Kerala, and Divya S. chief scientific officer of Indriyam Biologics Pvt. Ltd.
Sacred groves: a refuge for snakes
In a study published last year, researchers surveyed visitors of 30 sacred groves in Kannur and Kasaragod districts in the state of Kerala and Kodagu (Coorg) in Karnataka. They found that visitors were less likely to harm snakes inside the groves than outside. And, a large proportion of visitors who did not harm snakes even outside of the groves worshipped snake deities.
Felix Yuan, the lead author of the study and doctoral student at the University of Hong Kong had expected a “fair number of people would not harm snakes inside the groves” given the role of snake deities in the region, but he was surprised by the results. An overwhelming 96% of the visitors surveyed showed pacifist attitudes towards snakes encountered inside the groves, whereas only 60% had the same reaction outside of the groves. The reverence towards snake deities and pacifism towards snakes pervaded all the sacred groves regardless of whether they had idols of snake deities present or not.
“The broader implications of this study lie in the intricacies of the relationships between sacred natural sites and local communities,” explained Yuan, “where the reverence for a specific plant or animal can potentially result in its protection despite the ongoing degradation of other ‘natural’ qualities of these sites.”
Visitors tend to live in harmony with snakes inside the groves (sarpakaavu). Dileepkumar, who frequently visited sarpakaavu in Kerala since childhood, said that if people spotted snakes, they would not touch the creatures, leaving them to slither around the groves freely.
V.C. Balakrishnan, who has also grown up in Kerala, had on some occasions, encountered snakes in the sarpakaavu. “I will just wait for them to pass by,” he said.
Serpent god worship and the role of taboos
At the heart of the conservation of snakes in the groves lie taboos, which are essentially an interplay of devotion and fear, according to U. Prashanth Ballullaya, co-author of the study and a doctoral student at the Central University of Kerala. Local communities believe that their ancestors created the sarpakaavus to provide shelter to snakes, he said, adding that snakes, especially cobras, were considered divine.
Fear also plays a prominent role. Harming snakes is a sin, Ballulaya gleaned from the surveys. If anyone harms snakes inside the groves, they will be cursed and more snakes will emerge, said some visitors. One of the repercussions of killing snakes according to traditional beliefs is that the family could be deprived of progeny and hence there is a cultural practice of worshipping the habitats of snakes among communities in the Western Ghats, explained T.V. Ramachandra, professor at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. “Later, gradual transitions to worshiping idols with snake inscriptions happened and eventually, temples with concrete structures replaced these,” he said.
A king cobra. Credit: Rushenb/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Shonil Bhagwat, professor at the Open University, United Kingdom, said “a ‘healthy’ fear of wild animals is good because that discourages people from going to parts of sacred groves, naturally creating ‘no go’ areas.” He believes that “these so-called ‘fences of fear’ can help protect biodiversity within sacred groves by simply keeping people out of the groves, or at least some parts of the groves.”
Communities in the rural highlands of the Western Ghats in Kodagu and adjoining urban lowlands in Kasaragod were surveyed and the results were published in 2019. Researchers found that both urban and rural communities did not abuse the groves by cutting trees, dumping waste, hunting small animals, taking soil and foliage, and damaging termite mounds. And those with nāga deities, who are not only highly revered but also feared, were rarely abused.
The protection of snakes was extended to other taxa as well. Palatty Allesh Sinu, assistant professor at the Central University of Kerala and co-author of the community perception study was surprised to learn that “even taking a leaf from the sacred groves is considered a taboo or abuse of the land.” Believers told him that “the organic matter is food for insects, which is food for frogs and snakes!” Because of this snake-centric food chain, Sinu and his team were forbidden from collecting insects from the groves.
Rural communities had stronger cultural and religious beliefs than their urban counterparts, who valued groves also for their environmental benefits. Although the reasons for this are difficult to answer, said Sinu, one farmer told him “our agriculture, economy and lives are bound to these forests around us … When there was no access to a temple, these forests and local deities living inside the forest were the resort for us. When the upper castes have direct access to Gods, the backward caste people did not have.”
Erosion of beliefs
Community-preserved sacred groves in the Western Ghats are facing mounting pressures over the past decades. Many are shrinking in size or have disappeared altogether. At the time of its formation in 1956, Kerala boasted more than 10,000 sacred groves, but in 2015, only around 1200 remained, according to a report prepared by the Kerala State Assembly Committee on Forest, Environment, and Tourism. A global Nature study published in May reported that reptilian phylogenetic diversity in the Western Ghats is under very high levels of human disturbance.
“Earlier thesarpakaavu was a symbol of divinity and sanctity and it was with only utmost reverence that one was allowed to enter its premises,” said Dileepkumar, Kunjamma and Divya. “People were afraid to touch the trees let alone cut them. But the scenario has almost completely changed with the term ‘sarpakaavu’ being reduced to a mere social terminology. The infuriating demand for more land to accommodate the growing population coupled with the placid attitude of today’s generation has diminished the values of biodiversity and conservation,” they rued, adding that most people view the groves as wastelands, which could be used for construction.
Researchers have observed that youths are losing interest in sacred grove traditions. The loss of oral traditions that narrated stories behind the groves has been cited as one factor. Bhagwat believes that awareness of sacred groves and nature conservation should start early. “If children are introduced to the creepy crawlies that live in sacred groves and maintain a healthy forest ecosystem, they will learn to like this real, everyday nature that is found in landscapes where people farm, live and work,” he said.
V.C. Balakrishnan, who is the secretary of the NGO Society for Environmental Education in Kerala (SEEK), also stresses the role of educating youth to ensure the protection of the groves. SEEK, he explains, holds many camps on the importance of the sacred groves and biodiversity.
On 25 September, Dileepkumar R. joined forces with a group of snake experts and developers and launched a mobile app called SnakeHub, which is dedicated to education and conservation. Currently, the app is a social responsibility initiative of Indriyam Biologics Pvt. Ltd., a Department of Scientific and Industrial Research recognised medical startup working on snakebite management and mitigation, but the group plan to register a society and keep it as an independently functioning body under the organisation. With 114 snake species, Kerala is the top three states in India in terms of species number (after Tamil Nadu, which has the highest, followed by West Bengal) and more than half of these are endemic to the Western Ghats, said Vivek Sharma, head of SnakeHub App.
A part of the Western Ghats. dotcompals/Flickr, CC BY 2.0
In both English and Malayalam, the app is the first on snakes in the state of Kerala. Apart from providing biological and ecological information on all of the species, the app also covers snakebites including a list of hospitals equipped to treat bites. “Snakebite is an important objective in our work and based on requirements, we will add facilities to provide snakebite-related solutions and education materials,” said Sharma.
Their goal is to expand the scope of the app to the rest of India in other regional languages to cater to rural communities. India accounts for almost half of the total number of annual deaths from snake bites worldwide. Earlier this year, a study estimated that over the last 20 years, 1.2 million people died from snake bites nationwide. Most of the deaths occurred in rural areas and farmers were most at risk especially during the monsoon season.
“Sanskritisation” and commercialisation
Over the years, there has been a trend towards “Sankritisation” of the groves, which involves the conversion of animistic deities in the sacred groves to mainstream Hindu gods and goddesses, explained Bhagwat. This phenomenon, he said, paves the way for cement structures such as temples and other buildings to be constructed in the groves, which compromises the conservation value of the groves because natural features such as trees disappear. “The only way to solve this problem is to make the custodians of sacred groves aware that trees are important to protect biodiversity within the groves,” Bhagwat said.
“The sacred groves are losing their sanctity and some of the groves are becoming temples for commercial purposes,” said Balakrishnan, explaining that the owner can earn an income through money offered to the deities.
es are taking over in urban areas and even creeping into the hinterlands. According to Sinu, some sacred groves are under the direct control of the state while others are privately owned. “Sadly, both want to generate money out of it,” he lamented. “Selling the land is a way,” he said. “So, they first relocate the deities including snake god through a ceremonial ritual and free the land.” Many owners are in the process of relocating deities, noted Sinu, adding that the ceremony is a costly affair amounting to about Rs 4 lakh (Rs 400,000).
Ramachandra of IISc echoes these concerns. Cemented buildings have become commercial spots, he said, revealing that many sacred groves that are under the revenue department have undergone large-scale conversion to other land uses such as villas and resorts in Kodagu. He attributes these conversions to a lack of knowledge among the bureaucracy of the ecological and hydrological significance of the groves, which has sustained the livelihood of communities in the region for centuries.
Dileepkumar, Kunjamma and Divya believe that people fail to realise that their exploitation of the groves could pave the way for their own doom. “With the sacred groves being deconstructed, the snakes that were taking refuge in the grove vegetation enter into human colonies leading to a conflict between snakes and humans thereby posing a threat to both snakes and humans alike,” they warned.
A sarpakaavu in Kerala. Photo: Manoj K/Wikimedia Commons CC BY SA 3.0
How to protect the sacred groves?
Apart from cultural beliefs, the coexistence of snakes and humans hinges on the preservation of the ancient sacred groves of the Western Ghats.
Experts believe that state governments must play a greater role in protecting the sacred groves of the Western Ghats. Earlier this year, the Kerala state government launched a program “Pachathuruthu” to cultivate ‘green islands’ in degraded land in a bid to preserve biodiversity. For the initiative, “they are planting trees that can give shade, shelter, and food for birds and other animals,” Sinu said. “We have over 1500 sacred groves in Kerala along the west coast. Why not declare them as natural sanctuaries?”
Ramachandra proposes that the Karnataka and Kerala Forest Department should assign heritage status to all the sacred groves of the Western Ghats under section 37(1) of the Biological Diversity Act 2002. Such a move, he argues, will ensure the conservation of these ecologically fragile regions.
Conservation of the groves should be initiated at both the community and government level, according to Dileepkumar, Kunjamma and Divya. “Snake groves are an inherent part of Kerala culture and conserving them must be our obligation. For implementing the conservation strategies initiated by the government, a special task force must be employed to ensure the protection and maintaining the status quo of the snake groves.”
Balakrishnan said that the forest department had funded building fences around the sacred groves a few years ago. “These sacred groves are to be protected surely because they are rich in biodiversity and they are the wealth of our future generations.”
This article was first published on Mongabay India .
source: http://www.science.thewire.in / The Wire, Science / Home> Science> Environment / October 29th, 2020
In Kodagu, a COVID-19 vaccine task force has come into force in connection with the preparations to be made in the district in anticipation of vaccine availability next year.
The first meeting of the task force was held to discuss about the arrangements to be made and the steps to be taken as per the State government’s directives in view of various reports and the claims on the possibilities of vaccine coming to the market early next year.
Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy, who chaired the meeting in Madikeri on Wednesday, asked the officials to prepare the list of those who are likely to be vaccinated on a priority as announced by the government. They include COVID-19 warriors and all the frontline workers.
Gopinath, District Officer in charge of immunisation, gave a PowerPoint presentation on the status of COVID-19 vaccine research, citing the recent reports and also those who are likely to get the vaccine in the first phase. They include doctors and all healthcare workers and staff from the Departments of Health and Medical Education, doctors and staff of all the private hospitals, and ASHA and anganwadi workers.
Mr. Joy told the officials to prepare the list of all staff and sought coordination among all the key departments as the data being prepared now would be used to distribute the vaccine.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysuru – October 29th, 2020
The Tamara Coorg has been announced the winner in the “Rural Accommodation Category” at the recent Skål International Sustainable Tourism award 2020. The prestigious award function was part of the 19th Edition, with 23 countries competing where winners were chosen from 9 different categories at the virtual General Assembly of Skål Clubs Delegates held through Zoom.
The Skål International Sustainable Tourism Awards are geared towards enhancing the visibility and grant recognition to entities from the Travel and Tourism industry. The selection has been made based on the pillars of sustainability of the Responsible Tourism Institute and the winner offered a one-year free Biosphere Certification in one of their available categories.
Shruti Shibulal, CEO and Director, Tamara Leisure Experiences Pvt. Ltd, said “At Tamara Leisure Experiences, our core ethos has always been based on a foundation of workplace ethics and sustainable business practices. To that end, every Tamara property is designed, built and operated with a conscious emphasis on environment and community. This award is an encouraging recognition of our effort and strengthen even more our commitment to responsible hospitality.”
Tamara is deeply committed to responsible tourism, respecting and supporting local culture and practices and intruding on the surrounding natural environment as little as possible. To this end, all Tamara properties are constructed with care and respect for the environment, aiming to create the experience of a Sustainable Good Life for every guest
The Tamara Coorg is a luxury experience nestled in the heart of the hills, where you can rediscover the joy of being in nature; where your quest for serenity ends. The Tamara Coorg spans 180 acres where you will experience nature and luxury at its best as you wake up to the breath-taking view and the calming silence of the hills, disturbed only by the chirping birds and the rustle of leaves. The unique nature-based experiences at The Tamara Coorg includes Forest Therapy, Trekking, Plantation Tours, Blossom to Brew, Bird Watching amongst others.
The exquisite cottages at The Tamara Coorg are designed to provide guests with a rustic, luxurious space to unwind, and enjoy an unmatched view of the hills in the distance, while suspended in nature. Relaxation gets even better at the award-winning spa and wellness centre, The Elevation Spa. It offers signature spa treatments, while the fitness centre includes a steam & sauna, a state-of-the-art fitness center, and a Yoga Temple.
source: http://www.voyagerworld.in / Voyager World / Home> Hospitality / by VW Bureau / October 28th, 2020
Commonly known as black vinegar, ‘kachampuli’ is indigenous to the district and is prepared by locals.
Madikeri :
Udiyanda Subbaiah, a 90-year-old resident of K Nidugane in Madikeri, is always busy during the rainy season. While most of the residents stay indoors due to the wet and chilly weather, Subbaiah (aka thaatha) goes out early in the morning and begins his search for the Malabar tamarind fruit – scientifically called Garcinia gummi-gutta.
With his feet buried in slush, Subbaiah walks miles to collect the ripened fruits. He rushes back home with a basketful and sits down to remove loads of bloodsucking leeches that have crept all over him. He later sets up a make-shift tent and begins the tedious job of brewing vinegar from the fruit – popularly known as Kodagu’s ‘kachampuli’.
Kodagu district is known for its exclusive traditional culinary and the ‘pandi’ (pork) curry tops the table. And adding the special tang to these traditional non-vegetarian dishes is ‘kachampuli’ or ‘pulineer’ (puli in Kodava language means sour). Commonly known as black vinegar, ‘kachampuli’ is indigenous to the district and is prepared by the locals during the rainy season.
“The ‘kachampuli’ fruits start to ripen following the first rain in the monsoon season. Every day, we collect the ripened fruits that are mostly fallen on the ground. We take the fruits home and separate the seeds. Next, we put the fruits on a handmade wooden grill, which is fixed atop wood fire. The fruits have to be dried at high temperature continuously for nearly two days. The dried fruits are then put in boiling water (measured in proper proportion) and kept in a container for over a day.
The pulp gets separated from the fruit in the boiling water and the water is strained, which is then heated constantly on wood fire for nearly two days…the water must be heated until it gets thick and starts foaming. It might take more than two days sometimes,” explains K A Vedavathi, a resident of Galibeedu, about this sour extract. She has been brewing ‘kachampuli’ for nearly 25 years now.
While there are various methods of making ‘kachampuli’, Subbaiah follows the simplest one. “Until the extracted vinegar is thick and filled with flavour, the method used to brew it will not make much of a difference,” he opines. Subbaiah collects the ripe fruits, squeezes the pulp and brings the liquid to perfect blend by constantly heating it – sometimes for two days straight.
Kodengada Sumithra Nanaiah of Kiruguru village has been brewing ‘kachampuli’ in the most authentic way for 25 years now. “A funnel-like structure is raised using wooden logs and this structure is called ‘bhalley’ in Kodava language. Banana leaves are used to cover the funnel and the ‘bhalley’ is filled with the ripened fruits. The structure is covered to prevent rainwater entering it and a container is placed under the filter. Once the fruits start to ferment, the juice drops down into the container. The liquid collected is then heated on wood fire and the thickened extract is ‘kachampuli’ or ‘pulineer’,” explains Anju Thimmaiah, daughter-in-law of Sumithra.
The popularity of this black vinegar is reaching worldwide even as Michelin Star Chef Gordon Ramsay was introduced to its authentic taste during his recent visit to Kodagu. ‘Kachampuli’ is usually bought from the locals who prepare it without adulteration. The numerous spices shops that have opened across the district have become good marketers for the product and the vinegar is reaching all across the country. “We sell the thickened vinegar at Rs 700 to Rs 800 per 750 ml bottle. The same is sold at a higher price in retail shops, but the product at retail shops is prone to adulteration and is usually watery,” explains Ramyashree, daughter of Vedavathi.
The Ponnampet Forestry College has now started an initiative to rejuvenate the Garcinia gummi-gutta trees. They have started a nursery where grafts of the plant are sold to farmers. The college administration is also promoting the traditional art of brewing ‘kachampuli’ as the Garcinia gummi-gutta fruits are collected in large numbers from the farmers and the students of the college are involved in brewing the traditional vinegar.
PULI POINTS
‘Kachampuli’ is locally brewed by many residents and this earns the local families an annual income
This vinegar has a shelf-life of nearly three years
Malabar tamarind trees are not cultivated but are found naturally across the terrains of the district
Mother-daughter duo Vedavathi and Ramyashree at work. Nonagenarian Subbaiah brewing Kachampuli. Inset: Garcinia gummi-gutta fruit | Express
VARIOUS USES
Nothing goes waste while preparing ‘pulineer’. There is great demand for the dried pulp in neighbouring Kerala. It is sold between Rs 75 and Rs 100 per kg
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Prajna G R / Express News Service / October 25th, 2020
The furore over Tanishq’s new commercial has advertising professionals wondering about their creative freedom and safety in the field.
Illustration: tapas ranjan
Bengaluru :
A Muslim mother-in-law, a baby shower, an expectant Hindu daughter-in-law. These were the simple elements in jewellery brand Tanishq’s commercial for their latest jewellery line, aptly named Ekatvam. But what was meant to be a heartwarming display of oneness landed in troubled waters when enraged netizens promptly proclaimed the video a promotion of ‘Love Jihad’.
Many in the advertising fraternity, however, are still trying to figure out what was so controversial about the ad. Joyeeta Patpatia, the director of the Tanishq video ad, has known all along that advertisements have been conversation starters, but she never anticipated that the new campaign would blow up to this extent. Mumbai-based Patpatia, who has directed commercial videos for brands like HP, Britannia, Ikea, etc in her 15-year career so far, tells CE that this is her first experience with such an issue. “The story is about two women, where in the backdrop is the religion. But that the religion part will be blown up is something I had never expected,” says Patpatia, who has even been getting threats over the ad.
This kind of hate (one of the brand’s stores in Gujarat also received threats over the ad) has only left advertising professionals stressed about the safety of their field. For instance, Nilma Dileepan, founder of city-based Yellow Umbrella Production, who has been making ad films for 10 years, says, “I am scared because if I make a video on interfaith marriage or same sex relationships, people might come to my house to pelt stones at it.
Thoughts like this take away your creative freedom as an individual,” adds Dileepan. Though she has not encountered any controversy about her work, Dileepan has been trolled after her wedding. With a Malayali and Kodagu lineage, Dileepan wore a traditional saree from Kerala in a Kodagu fashion. This, in addition to, incorporating some Kannadiga traditions since she was marrying a Kannadiga. “My friends told me that my wedding video was trending in Kodagu. People thought I was destroying their culture,” says Dileepan.
While one might think that making a commercial video is a fun job, Vidyaa B Reddy says it’s about finding a balance. “Although we follow the brief by the clients, it is important to take care of people’s opinions so that it does not upset different communities,” says Reddy, founder of Kettle Studios. Patpatia, however, talks about how the ad has also received a huge amount of love. “Many have even come up with different caricatures of characters,” she says.
heart to heart The controversy has sparked debates about whether the video would get the same reaction had the religions of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law been swapped. Ex-model and transformation coach Tamanna Pasha, who was brought up by a Hindu mother and Muslim father, questions the same. “Aside from irritating those who are against interfaith marriage, the video also challanges the perception that the mother-in-law has to be evil.
The video was heart-warming but a segment of people, especially those with non-secular beliefs, have a lot of time to troll,” says Pasha, who is married to event manager Rafiushan Pasha. She adds, “I feel blessed to celebrate Diwali with my mother and Eid with my in-laws. Now people are more accepting. But the way my parents handled it during their time was incredible.”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Monika Monalisa / Express News Service / October 15th, 2020
DGP Praveen Sood visited Kodagu on Sunday, as part of his tour to all the districts to boost the morale of police in Covid-19 pandemic situation, at a time when 150 police personnel in Kodagu alone are tested positive for coronavirus and 31 cases are active.
DGP Praveen Sood and IGP Southern Range Vipul Kumar during their visit to Kodagu on Sunday
Kodagu:
DGP Praveen Sood visited Kodagu on Sunday, as part of his tour to all the districts to boost the morale of police in Covid-19 pandemic situation, at a time when 150 police personnel in Kodagu alone are tested positive for coronavirus and 31 cases are active.
According to Praveen Sood, as many as 8,000 police personnel in the State are tested positive for Covid-19 so far and, 1,500 cases are active, and 72 police personnel lost their lives.
According to IGP Southern Range Vipul Kumar who accompanied Praveen Sood, in southern range alone including Mysuru, Kodagu, Chamarajnagar, Mandya and Hassan, as many as 794 police personnel are tested positive for Covid-19 and 181 cases are active and seven police personnel lost their lives.
Praveen Sood also held a district level review meeting of Police Department on Sunday in Kodgu. He said the Covid-19 cases in Kodagu are comparatively less. (Kodagu has registered 3115 Covid-19 positive cases, 574 cases are active and there are 48 deaths so far). Damages are lesser during floods and landslides during heavy southwest monsoons this year (from 5 August to 10 August), compared to past two years. He lauded the efforts of police in handling Covid-19 pandemic situation and also on their role in handling natural disaster situation in Kodagu.
He also said they are taking all measures to root out drug menace completely in the State. When contacted, Kodagu SP Kshama Mishra said Kodagu police have registered 22 cases related to growing, selling and circulation of marijuana and other drugs in Kodagu district this year.
On allegations of parties involving drugs at homestays and resorts in Kodagu, she said that no such cases are found this year.
source: http://www.thehansindia.com / The Hans India / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Hans News Service / October 05th, 2020
For the first time Kodagu coffee growers, who formed a farmer producer company, Biota Coorg FPC, have exported their crop directly to a roaster in Europe.
IB Bopanna, one of the founding directors of Biota Coorg
After suffering 50-70 per cent crop loss due to excessive rainfall and landslides over the last three years, small, mid-sized and large coffee growers in Kodagu district of Karnataka, who pooled in their coffees under Biota Coorg, are set to receive a 15-20 per cent premium, on an average.
Incorporated in January, Biota Coorg made its first direct export shipment of bulk branded coffees to a large roaster in Europe last week. A container consisting of 320 bags (60 kgs/per bag) of Robusta Cherry AB sourced from 75 of its members was shipped from Mangaluru port on September 30. The company plans to ship 10 more containers to different roasters across Europe, of which two containers are scheduled to be shipped in October and the rest by December. In addition, since its inception, Biota Coorg has directly sold Arabica coffees to local roasters and local cafes at a premium. The 10 founding directors of Biota Coorg, collectively have over 100 years of domain expertise in coffee growing and allied areas including exports of agri commodities, global marketing of coffees, agro-forestry, plantation management, organisation development and coffee quality enhancement through cupping.
Unique flavour
Grown under the shade of multiple species of endemic rainforest trees at an elevation of 3,000– 4,000 feet above sea level, Coorg coffees have distinct fruity notes because of the wild figs, citrus fruits that grow in the rainforests and caramel notes from the leaf litter-enriched soil. Because of the higher elevation, Robusta coffees from Kodagu take a longer time to mature and ripen, thereby resulting in a softer cup.
“The objective of incorporating Biota is to market and put Coorg Coffee on the world map by elevating its quality based on the region’s ecology and biodiversity,” IB Bopanna, one of the founding directors of Biota Coorg and former Senior Global Director- Coffee, The Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta, USA, told BusinessLine.
“Earlier growers were selling their coffee in bulk with little differentiation to local traders, at prevailing market prices. We are a cohort of 75 members (in our first year of operation) who have committed to superior on-farm harvesting and post harvesting standards that will command a premium in the international and domestic markets. We are committed to uphold the legacy of the region’s biodiversity by adhering to an audited standard in addition to RFA (Rainforest Alliance) certification, which we have applied for. All the coffee we procure is 100 per cent traceable. Every grower’s coffee is segregated, processed at the Tata Coffee facility in Kodagu, cupped and prepared specially to fit the requirement of high quality roasts, blends and brands.”
Community initiative
MB Ganapathy, former Chairman of KPA, said: “There are many large coffee growers who export their coffees in their individual capacities however, the majority who are small growers are dependent on the local traders to sell their coffee. Biota Coorg is a great community initiative that will benefit small coffee growers who can join hands and realise better prices for their produce by following quality practices set by Biota that will adhere to international standards of roasters.”
Bose Mandanna, a large grower and Biota member, said: “The advantage for international roasters is that they are ensured of a consistent supply of quality coffees from Biota. We have received a standard of good agricultural practices from Biota which we strictly follow including the use of chemicals and labour. We harvest the coffee at the right time, pulp it on the same day, wash it clean and dry it to the correct moisture levels, after which it is inspected by a Biota representative, who then further processes it in the curing works.”
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> AgriBusiness / by Sangeetha Chengappa / Bengaluru / October 05th, 2020
The Coffee Board of India has released geographical indication (GI) tag for five coffee varieties grown in the country. Of this, three are from Karnataka and one each from Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. The GI tag will help all the five coffee brands get maximum market and price for their premium produce across the world. These varieties are Coorg, Bababudangiri, Chikmagalur, Araku Valley and Wayanad coffees.
The Board had obtained GI registration for unique regional coffees grown in these regions during March 2019. Previously, GI registration was obtained for two specialty coffees such as Monsooned Malabar Arabica and Monsooned Malabar Robusta in 2008.
The region-specific GI tags will increase the credibility and visibility of Indian coffees in the international market which will further boost export earnings, the Coffee Board said in a statement.
Further to the registration, the GI tagged coffees are promoted in various national and international forums, it said.
The board has also invited coffee growers to register their coffees with the board so that they can brand their product before selling in the domestic and international markets.
The Coffee Board has also collaborated with Indian Missions in key destinations such as Berlin, Helsinki, Tallinn, Burssels, Shanghai, Moscow and Sao Paulo for an effective overseas promotion of Indian coffee.
As part of its efforts to promote the consumption of coffee in the domestic market, the Board is taking up a year-long, nationwide programme with the help of a special grant of $90,000 from International Coffee Organisation (ICO) for building capacity of nearly 200 entrepreneurs in coffee business, a Coffee Board official said.
This is expected to help in bridging the gap in coffee value chain in the domestic market, especially in non-southern regions of the country. Apart from the capacity building programmes for budding entrepreneurs, the Board proposes to conduct awareness programmes for promotion of coffee consumption in India, the Board said in a statement.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Business> Business News / by Mahesh Kulkarni / DHNS, Bengaluru / October 01st, 2020
These artisanal coffee brands are creating exciting new ways of drinking your morning java
The world has been in the throes of the third wave of coffee for a while now. Artisanal sourcing, roasting, and blending of coffee is par for the course. Terms like flavour profiles, cultivars, and tasting notes are no longer restricted to the realm of wines. So what next?
The fourth wave is all about people—the producers and the roasters—and their experiments to create a complex coffee with layers of flavours. “We can alter the flavour or unlock new flavours by intervening at various stages in the life span of the coffee bean. This can be at the plant-level or when the coffee cherry is ready to be pulped (the process of loosening the pulp from the bean) or at the drying stage, and of course, at the roasting stage”, says Ashish D’abreo, co-founder of Bengaluru-based Maverick & Farmer Coffee Roasters.
On the occasion of International Coffee Day, we look at what’s new in the artisanal coffee space in India.
The art of fermentation
Fermentation has been a mega food trend over the past couple of years and obviously, coffee growers are experimenting with it too. While it occurs naturally, the trick lies in controlling the process and fermenting the coffee just so. “Fermentation brings out the juiciness and complexity of flavours in a coffee. We carry out anaerobic fermentation, where the coffee cherries are placed in a tank of water and we monitor the pH level and sugar content. Under-fermented coffee is just a waste of resources, while over-fermentation produces an unappetising aroma of rotting fruit, so the process has to be quite precise,” explains Rahul Reddy, founder of the Mumbai-based Subko Specialty Coffee Roasters, which offers a 30-hour fermented single-origin (Ratnagiri Estate, Karnataka) coffee with notes of maple syrup, candied pecans and apricot.
Maverick & Farmer took things to another level at their Ajjikuttira Estates in Coorg, where third-generation coffee farmer (and co-founder) Tej Thammaiah fermented the coffee beans with orange juice to create ‘Orange You Curious?’ coffee. “Yeast, bacteria, and sugars are naturally present in both the coffee pulp and orange juice, which we ferment together for 24-36 hours,” explains Thammaiah. The beans are then shade-dried for about three weeks to produce a unique coffee with refreshing citrusy notes. “The point was to unlock flavours that are normally not found in coffee. We tried this with several other ingredients; some experiments failed but some were successful; for example, we have a micro-lot of lactic acid bacteria fermented coffee called ‘Milk and Honey’ launching in October,” he adds.
No smoke without fire
At the start of the drying stage, when the pulp has been stripped off, the tender green bean is porous and ready to imbibe any flavours or influences that it is exposed to. “A smoky note is a desirable flavour in coffee, but until now most of it came from really dark roasting coffee. While it’s enjoyable, you also get a lot of burnt flavour and the natural, delicate sweetness of coffee is completely lost. Our challenge was to bring in the smokiness without dark-roasting,” explains D’abreo. This resulted in “Ol’ Smoky” where the coffee beans are smoked with leaves and wood from fruit trees in a closed room for 13-14 hours. The source of the fire is not in the same room; rather the smoke is let in through a hole. “This introduces a nice smokiness to the coffee while leaving the natural sweetness and notes of Arabica intact. Ol’ Smoky is possibly the world’s first cold-smoked coffee and we are happy that we have been able to create something innovative”, adds D’abreo.
As the coffee beans dry further, roasters are experimenting with introducing new flavours—a favourite method is to ‘age’ the beans in whisky barrels to imbibe flavours such as oak, caramel, and vanilla. Mumbai-based Dope Coffee Roasters offers Double-Barrel Blend, a limited edition coffee from Harley Estate (Karnataka) that is aged in Amrut whisky barrels, producing a complex cuppa with a smooth, sweet finish. “Once the coffee is processed at the farm, we age it in the barrel for about a month. Since coffee green beans are so sensitive, they take on the malty, smoky aromas from the barrel. Unlike most artisanal coffee, this is 100 per cent Robusta, which we believe is India’s specialty and we are happy to see customers accepting it. We will shortly launch this as a cold brew as well,” says Rizwan Amlani, CEO and co-founder of Dope Coffee Roasters. Subko offers an interesting variant of this by cask-ageing cascara (skin of the coffee cherry) for 10 days, which is then cold-brewed for 16 hours and served with tonic water and jaggery.
Considering India’s status as prime coffee-growing country, there’s plenty of room for experiments at every stage of the coffee life cycle. “We have lived through the third wave and it’s time to take things forward. Our customers want to experiment; they are no longer fixated on one brand or blend and are excited to try new flavours. So our challenge is to see what else we can do to develop new tasting notes in coffee”, says D’abreo. The fourth wave is here to stay and Indian artisanal coffee brands are at the forefront of innovation. That’s sweet news for the coffee connoisseur.
source: http://www.vogue.in / Vogue / Home> Culture & Living / by Prachi Joshi / October 01st, 2020
WELCOME. If you like what you see "SUBSCRIBE via EMAIL" to receive FREE regular UPDATES.
Read More »
