source:http:/www.tandfonline.com / August 1990
Ajjamada C Kushalappa Ph.D., Recipient of ‘The Dr. and Mrs.D.L. Bailey Award
Category Archives: Agriculture
Govt. land identified
Kodagu Deputy Commissioner B.C. Satish on Monday said 359 acres of government land has been identified for government projects, allocation to ex-servicemen and homeless people.
At a meeting in Madikeri, he said 1,300 applications seeking sites were pending while a decision has been taken to set aside 10-20 per cent of the land for ex-servicemen.
He told the meeting that the list of people without sites can be finalised at the gram sabha meetings for the allocation.
The DC told the tahsildar to immediately sanction land in Madikeri for the construction of Dr B R Ambedkar Bhavan.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> India> Karnataka / byThe Hindu Bureau / December 26th, 2022
Kodagu grower makes big gains from dwarf Robusta coffee variety
Suresh has harvested nearly 7000 kilos of ripened coffee beans from a total of 1220 dwarf varieties of Robusta plants.
Madikeri :
The coffee sector is not doing well. The reasons are many such as crop damage caused by incessant rains, disease outbreaks and overall changes in climatic conditions. However, a
“progressive” farmer in Madikeri, Ponnachettira Suresh is doing well. Suresh has harvested nearly 7000 kilos of ripened coffee beans from a total of 1220 dwarf varieties of Robusta plants.
“A planter is also a doctor who treats the plants,” Suresh quips.
It was in 2020 that Suresh learnt about the dwarf variety of Robusta coffee from a friend in Kolkata. Always open to experimenting, Suresh availed five seeds of this dwarf Robusta variety and he developed them into seedlings.
“Out of the five seeds, one did not survive. However, from the four seedlings, I propagated 196 dwarf plants and I have now planted 1220 plants of the same species,” explained Suresh.
With 6 feet X 6 feet spacing, a total of three acres of land was developed with the dwarf variety of Robusta and Suresh planted Gliricidia Tree for the shade across the area.
“The plants are yielding after three years and I have picked 7000 kilos so far,” he said.
Suresh explained that the dwarf variety does not require any over-the-top maintenance. “The plantation was manured five to six times, irrigated in February and March with sprinkler irrigation and a chemical spray was carried out before monsoon to avoid dropping and rotting of the plants,” he added. He opined that the maintenance of the plantation varies and depends on the condition of the soil, weather and other variants.
“I do not use complex manure. Instead, I feed the plants with only the required amount of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. These nutrients are fed by hand as per requirement. While the labour charge might increase in this process, it will ensure proper health and growth of the plant as not all nutrients are required in equal amounts,” he shared. He provides the plants with nutrients depending on the weather condition, which has helped his estate flourish.
“However, the dwarf Robusta variety has not been certified by the Coffee Board and this might be due to the lack of interest in this regard. Nevertheless, I have marked five dwarf variety plants and I will be recording the yield of these plants for the coming five years. This data will be handed over to the coffee board,” he said.
Suresh has always been a “progressive” grower and he has a 400-year-old Robusta plant known as Robusta Peridenia, a 200-year-old variety known as Coffea Congensis and other rare varieties of crops that are still yielding. He is also an avid orange grower and has won a state award for best cultivation of Coorg Mandarin.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Prajna GR, Express News Service / December 18th, 2022
Honey festival in Madikeri
The Kodagu district administration has planned a Honey Festival in the gardens of Raja Seat in Madikeri on December 24 and 25.
The festival, which has been planned in association with Kodagu Zilla Panchayat and Horticulture Department, is aimed at encouraging apiculture in Kodagu in view of the worldwide demand for Coorg honey.
The festival is expected to bring together not only people engaged in apiculture, but also scientists, societies and companies engaged in producing honey.
The festival will also feature demonstrations on apiculture and other technical knowledge of the field by local researchers and scientists from the College of Forestry and government officials, and exhibition stalls.
More information can be obtained from the Deputy Director of Horticulture Chikkera Pramod on 94831-10621 and Vasanth B.D. on 94490-75077.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> India> Karnataka / by The Hindu Bureau / December 17th, 2022
Acviss Develops Traceability App For The Coffee Board Of India
Acviss Technologies develops a “no internet” blockchain-based traceability application for the Coffee Board of India.
Brand protection and consumer engagement technology company Acviss Technologies develops a “no internet” blockchain-based traceability application for the Coffee Board of India. This app is designed to protect coffee production from counterfeiting.
The Coffee Board of India has been working with marginalized tribal coffee growers to help them improve their farm productivity and quality. With the introduction of this anti-counterfeiting technology, farmers have been able to benefit from higher incomes in their farm produce.
In the last few years, the demand for differentiated coffees with traceability features has been increasing across the world and the differentiated coffees which can be traced back to their source can help obtain a premium for these coffee farmers.
Commenting on this, Vikas Jain, Founder, of Acviss Technologies, said, “It has been a pleasure creating a solution for the Coffee Board of India, we’ve not only built something innovative but we’ve also tried to make it accessible and helpful for the common man, the app we have created is very simple and does not require Wifi for farmers to scan. It’s a very easy and user-friendly app created first and foremost for the benefit of farmers”
The blockchain-based traceability application by Acviss is an anti-counterfeiting solution that helps to reorganize the unstructured supply chain, provides transparency in transactions, and protects farmers from fraud and fake GI tag products with the help of quality evaluation.
This app also helps farmers to generate stable income and protects them from any collateral damage with the help of automated payments, insurance, and financing as there is no middleman involved. For the end users, this app also helps consumers by providing authenticated certifications ensuring that the bought product is safe for consumption.
Talking about this implementation, the officials of the Coffee Board of India, said, “We have worked with Acviss to develop a blockchain solution that has been implemented in Karnataka and we have been very satisfied with the output. With this solution, the farmers have been able to gain benefits. Their incomes have gone up by about 43 per cent because of this traceability app.”
Coffee has become an increasingly common target for food fraudsters, with low-quality ground coffee beans adulterated with filler ingredients such as corn, barley, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, acai seed, brown sugar, or starch syrup. One of the main drivers has been a reduction in coffee bean output due to poor harvests in some key producers.
With this application, coffee procured by these tribal farmers can now be traced from the grower to the consumer. Coffee parameters like moisture, weight, type and outturn captured at source farms are mentioned. Along with this, certification data is also available for each sample collected.
To build consumer confidence, this app also displays the farm locations and the farmer data. It helps in simpler transactions between farmers and the end consumer with the help of digitalization as every product packaged goes through an authentic signature. This digital signature cannot be tampered with and helps in easy tractions between the farmers, processing unit, warehouse, distributor, retail, and finally the consumer.
Coffee has become an increasingly common target for food fraudsters, with low-quality ground coffee beans adulterated with filler ingredients such as corn, barley, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, acai seed, brown sugar, or starch syrup. One of the main drivers has been a reduction in coffee bean output due to poor harvests in some key producers.
source: http://www.bwdisrupt.businessworld.in / BW Disrupt / Home / by BW Online Bureau / December 03rd, 2022
Karnataka: Forest department devises projects to address man-animal conflict in Kodagu
Apart from these conflict mitigation projects, the department is releasing special packages to help farmers located in conflict areas.
Madikeri :
The pandemic situation had affected the maintenance works and sanction of projects from the forest department across Kodagu leading to a peak in the wildlife conflict. Alongside the perpetual problem of wild elephants, the tiger menace had claimed the lives of humans and an increased number of cattle. However, the department has assured to provide a permanent solution to the man-animal conflict and grand plans are in place to address the issue.
Improved conflict-mitigating projects including the deployment of static surveillance teams in heavy conflict areas are underway in the district. An annual budget between Rs 30-40 crore will likely focus on developing conflict mitigation methods to fight man-elephant conflicts.
This year, the department has received approval to install railway barricades for a 22 km stretch across Nagarahole, a 20 km stretch across Madikeri limits and a 2 km stretch across Madikeri Wildlife limits. In 2023-24, solar fences will play a crucial role in addressing the conflict and improved double tentacle solar fences will be installed across a 25 km stretch of the Nagarahole forest area and a 20 km stretch of the Madikeri forest division. In addition to this, the several dysfunctional solar fences (spread across 60 km in different areas) will witness relief and maintenance works.
Apart from these conflict mitigation projects, the department is releasing special packages to help farmers located in conflict areas.
“The farmers can install solar fences across their estates and 50% of the cost will be borne by the department. A one-kilometre solar fence will cost approximately Rs 2,30,000 and the department will release Rs 1,15,000 as a subsidy for the fence. Any farmer or grower is eligible to avail the subsidy,” confirmed BN Niranjan Murthy, Kodagu division CCF. As of this year, funds are ready to be distributed as subsidies for up to 50 to 60 km stretch of solar fence installation by the farmers themselves.
Meanwhile, to address the tiger menace across the estates of Kodagu, the department will provide a 50% subsidy for the construction of cattle sheds to eligible farmers in conflict areas.
“The construction of a cattle shed is estimated at Rs 2 lakh per unit and the department will bear 50% of this cost. The department is ready to extend subsidies to 50 farmers this year. The farmers who own less than four acres of farmland or estate and possess a BPL card are eligible for this subsidy,” confirmed Murthy.
Further, the compensation for death due to wildlife attacks has been increased from the previous Rs 7.5 lakh to the current Rs 15 lakh. Similarly, the crop compensation to all crops will be doubled shortly. Meanwhile, the department has arranged school van facilities for students located in conflict areas and currently, four vans are functioning in severe conflict areas.
“In case of additional requirements, more vans can be engaged by the department,” he confirmed.
The Indian Institution of Sciences is undertaking a scientific study on the steel rope fences to address the man-elephant conflict and the institution is involved in a few modifications to make this a foolproof initiative.
“Once the steel rope fences go through a few design changes, they can be installed instead of railway barricades as the rope fences are extensively cost-effective,” he said.
Deployment of surveillance cameras and solar street lights in conflict areas are also among the projects that have received a green signal to address the conflict in the district.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Pragna GR, Express News Service / December 01st, 2022
Making sense of rainfall changes in Karnataka’s coffee estates through old records
- Climate change-induced weather events are impacting Karnataka’s coffee farms, testing the resilience of farmers.
- Karnataka coffee farmers keep meticulous rainfall records that are helping individual and organisational attempts at studying climate change.
- Farmers are trying to adapt to changes in rainfall patterns, first investing in sprinklers and now in coffee driers.
At his 38-acre coffee estate at 3,800 metres above sea level, overlooking the pristine Baba Budan giri (hill) in Chikmagalur district of Karnataka, I.S. Umeshchandra is working on creating a database of rainfall records in the region. Crowdsourced from fellow coffee farmers across the district, the exercise struck gold when a farmer shared a rainfall record from 1887.
“I was amazed to see it, though it is unverified. The verified ones date back to 1933,” he told Mongabay-India. His son Navneeth, a data analyst, is helping him crunch the numbers. Coffee farmers in Karnataka keep a record of rainfall in their estates, a practice dating back to colonial times.
A climate change report in 2014, Transitioning towards climate-resilient development in Karnataka, prepared by 26 experts, said that Karnataka would be hit harder by climate change than other states in the country. As rainfall patterns in the state change, the rainfall records of farmers are coming in handy for various individual and organisational attempts at understanding climate change, climate resilience and adaptation in Karnataka.
In 2011, the College of Forestry in Kodagu district, India’s largest coffee-producing district, participated in an international project, Coffee Agroforestry Network (CAFNET) Project, to study the ecosystem services of agroforestry systems in the district. Rainfall patterns too were studied as a part of the project, where rainfall data of over 60 years from 116 coffee farms was sourced and analysed. The study pointed to a strong fluctuation in annual rainfall every 12 to 14 years and a reduction in the length of the rainy season by 14 days.
Umeshchandra (not associated with CAFNET) has observed some patterns from the initial analysis, though he has yet to find a strong one. “Fluctuations in annual rainfall are noticed every 10-12 years,” he shared. Records from 1887 show an average annual rainfall of 4826 mm (190 inches) in Chikmagalur, which suggests heavy rainfall is not new in this region, which receives an average annual rainfall of around 2500 mm (80-100 inches). “But heavy spells of rain for a few days as against it being spread out is making a difference,” he observed based on his experience.
Ramachandra K.S., a coffee farmer from Shanthalli in Somwarpet taluk of Kodagu, agrees. Flipping through the pages of his handwritten rainfall records dating back to the 1960s, he says there was over 5000 mm (200 inches) of average annual rainfall in 1960-1962, which fell to around 3800 mm (150 inches) in 1970. However, most farmers agree that the rainfall pattern has become unpredictable and daunting in the last five years because unpredictable rains make planning farming events difficult. They say they are constantly stressed.
J. Srinivasan, a professor at the Divecha Centre for Climate Change at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), told Mongabay-India that these long-term rainfall records that the coffee farmers of the Malnad region of Karnataka (including Chikmagalur and Kodagu) keep are invaluable.
However, he said that the farmers need to compare their records with local IMD (India Meteorological Department) station records to verify them. “A single rain gauge cannot give accurate results,” he said, adding that the Malnad region, which is hilly, experiences microclimates and that one farmer’s rainfall records will be different from that of their neighbour’s.
More rains lead to landslides, infections and pests in plants
Chikmagalur has a special place in the coffee history of the country. Legend has it that a 17th-century Sufi saint Baba Budan secretly transported seven coffee cherries from Mocha in Yemen and planted them in front of his hermitage, which later came to be called Baba Budan giri (hills) in Chikmagalur, marking the origin of coffee cultivation in India.
From Umeshchandra’s estate situated on a slope, Baba Budan giri provides a breathtaking view. But these days, it fills him with dread. While erratic rainfall hasn’t affected the productivity of his estate adversely, he fears physical damage by way of landslides. More wet days and increased daily rains saturate the soil and can damage hills, leading to landslides. Studies have shown a correlation between extreme rainfall and landslide events.
At Attigundi village, about 13 km from Umeshchandra’s estate in Hosapura is his friend Kiran M.R’s 45-acre estate of Arabica coffee. He is focused on phasing out silver oak trees (Grevillea robusta) in his estate and planting more native ones. Karnataka is known for shade-grown coffee, and its agroforestry system encourages an abundance of native trees alongside the cash crop.
Plantation economics and public policies, however, drove the farmers to opt for exotic shade trees like silver oak, which grows fast and can be easily traded as timber. Many farmers are switching back to native trees for various reasons, one of them being the leaf litter of silver oak lacks nutrients and doesn’t decompose as fast as native ones, said C.G. Kushalappa, dean of the College of Forestry. There is also the realisation that a good canopy cover provided by native trees can prevent soil damage during extreme rainfall.
“This July, I got 101.6 mm (four inches) of rain every day for 20 days. Some places nearby recorded around 150-200 mm (6 to 8 inches). This was followed by 1000-1300 mm (40-50 inches) of rain in 10 days in June. “We used to get seven to 10 days of monsoon break in June-August which is crucial for coffee. But no such break in the last three to five years,” said Kiran.
More wet days and little sunshine — a perfect setting for pests and fungal infections — is bad news for coffee. Black rot fungus (coffee thread blight) or Koleroga and coffee white stem borer (Xylotrechus quadripes), a pest, are decimating Arabica plants that were once this coffee belt’s pride. Coffee leaf rust, another fungal disease, is also high among coffee, informs Kiran. “I faced 20-30 percent loss last year,” he said with dismay. He had to shell out Rs. 5000 an acre to remove the black rot infestation at his 60-acre farm in Magundi in Chikmagalur.
Robusta, as the name suggests, is more robust and pest resistant to an extent, said J.S. Nagaraj, joint director of Central Coffee Research Institute at Balehonnur in Chikmagalur. In the last 15 years, there has been a clear shift towards Robusta in Kodagu and Chikmagalur. “While it was 50-50 earlier, it is now 80 percent Robusta in Kodagu,” said Kushalappa. Labour shortage and the high cost of cultivation of Arabica have also tipped the scale in favour of Robusta.
Farmers devise ways to adapt
Coffee farmers here are constantly trying to adapt to a changing climate. “Coffee farming depends on two important rainfall events, blossom shower and backing shower,” explained farmer Jammada Ganesh Ayyanna of Kaikeri village in Gonikoppal in Kodagu. “Blossom showers in the summer months of February to March ensure the blossoming of coffee plants. This must be backed by the backing showers within two weeks for the cherries to set,” he said. In the last three decades, the changes in shower patterns began to affect largely rain-fed agriculture, prompting farmers to invest in irrigation by way of sprinklers. “More than 90 percent of farmers rely on sprinklers now,” Ayyanna told us.
While the northeast monsoon and cyclonic events had little effect on coffee farming in these parts earlier, isolated showers during coffee-picking months (December-February) are working against the industry. Showers during picking months make the cherries drop. The dropped cherries, called “cleanings”, are often picked and sold. While cleanings filled 100 bags (one bag is 50kg) at Ramachandra’s farm last year, Kiran had to let go of the cleanings due to rains. “The cleanings were damaged; damaged cherries don’t fetch a good price,” he said. Picked cherries need at least two months to dry, said Ramachandra.
“No rains and good sunshine are ideal.” Since that hasn’t been the case in the last few years, more farmers, mostly large landholders, have begun to invest in driers.
“I didn’t want to worry about unexpected rains,” said Gerrard Perreira from Coove Village in Mudigere taluk in Chikmagalur, who has 200 acres of Arabica and Robusta coffee. “For the coffee to dry properly, we need uninterrupted sunshine for a minimum of five days. But that’s hardly been the case in the last few years,” he said. He bought a drier eight years ago when signs of climate change had begun to show.
It has a 4000-litre capacity that can dry 35 bags of coffee at one time at an optimal temperature of 35-40 degrees Celsius for 18-22 hours. “The drying has to be uninterrupted. Since the power supply is unreliable, we use firewood. But a power generator for backup is a must,” he shared.
There are other advantages too. Using driers is more hygienic, quicker, and cuts labour costs, said farmers. Small and medium landholders, however, can’t afford the driers that cost about Rs 12-15 lakhs and are suggesting setting up community-owned driers. Kushalappa has his suspicions since cooperatives have not worked well in the region in the past. Coffee Board is now giving subsidies for driers, informed Nagaraj. “It is not affordable for everyone. But if climate change continues to affect coffee farming, driers are the future,” he said.
source: http://www.india.mongabay.com / Mongabay / Home> Mongabay Saves Climate / by Arathi Menon / December 01st, 2022
Coorg farmers are now growing coffee that is helping the environment
A unique eco-certification initiative in Kodagu’s famous coffee estates offers fresh hope for preserving native rainforests of the Western Ghats.
There was a time in the not-too-distant past when coffee farmers in Kodagu district of Karnataka grew their plants only under the canopy of evergreen forests they had inherited. Now they prefer to grow it under the sun, which has serious implications for the Western Ghats and on the waters of the Kaveri River.
More and more farmers are now letting trees such as Dadup (Erythrina subumbrans), Arecanut (Areca catechu), Balanji (Acrocarpus fraxnifolius) and Jackfruit (Acrocarpus heterophyllus) die so that the canopy can be opened up and they can grow sun-loving coffee varieties that produce more berries and beans, resulting in higher returns.
Instead of the big trees, they are now planting exotic Silver Oaks (Grevillea robusta), whose pole-like trunk can be used as a support for the climbing pepper vines, which help boosting incomes. The proliferation of Silver Oaks has made it one of the more common trees in some parts of the area.
This transition has a larger ecosystem cost. Kodagu, earlier known as Coorg, is located on the western edge of the Mysore Plateau, at an average altitude of 800 metres, as it lifts up to the crest of the Western Ghats ridge (altitude above 1,500 m) and then falls sharply westwards into Kerala. The plateau mainly slopes eastwards, with the streams and rivers joining to form the Kaveri River, which is the lifeline for millions of people in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
With insufficient rains over the Western Ghats during this year’s southwest monsoon, there is a shortage of water in the reservoirs across the Kaveri in Karnataka. This has led to the flaring of the water-sharing dispute with the lower riparian state of Tamil Nadu in recent days.
While this acrimony continues, payment for ecosystem services measures are being worked out in Kodagu district so that coffee farmers protect the forests under which they grow their crop, thereby preserving the water flow into the Cauvery. These measures also help to maintain the climate resilience in the river’s catchment and command areas.
With the forest-like mixed-tree canopy in coffee plantations disappearing, the torrential rains of the southwest monsoon flows quickly down the streams, carrying valuable topsoil away and causing floods followed by long dry periods downstream.
Paying for ecosystem services
The Kodagu farmers are being encouraged through payment for ecosystem services, in the form of eco-certification, to continue with their traditional coffee cultivation under the shade of mixed species of trees. This will help strengthen the ecosystem services they receive from the unique landscape of Kodagu, and also strengthen similar services and climate resilience of all those relying on the waters of the Kaveri downstream.
The concept of eco-certified coffee, whose certification process ensures that coffee is grown under mixed-species trees, has gained popularity in the district in the past five years. Close to 900 coffee farmers have converted to eco-certified coffee. Even with a conservative estimate of 10 acre per farmer, this means nearly 10,000 acres of eco-certified coffee. In addition, with Tata Coffee getting all of its 13 estates eco-certified, Kodagu district has at least 20,000 acres under coffee cultivation that aims to minimise damage to the environment.
As an incentive for protecting the environment, the coffee farmers get a premium above the market price for their coffee beans. Coffee is the major agricultural produce from Kodagu, with 33% of the district landscape under its cultivation. About 38% of India’s coffee production comes from the district.
Ecologically, Kodagu district has been identified as a micro hotspot of biodiversity under the larger Western Ghats region. Rightly so, since the western crest of the mountainous district is in the direct path of the southwest monsoon. The dark clouds heavy with rain dump much water over the district. While the western edge of the district receives above 5,000 mm of rainfall on an average, it reduces to around 1,200 mm in the east. Most of the water feeds into the Kaveri.
According to a report by the College of Forestry at Ponnampet in Kodagu, natural forested ecosystems cover an area of 46% of the total area of the district. These include evergreen, semi evergreen, moist deciduous, dry deciduous and scrub forest types, and even the high-altitude shola-grassland ecosystem.
Traditionally, coffee is grown in the shade of these forests. Coffee estates in Kogadu have on an average 350 trees per hectare, compared with 270 in degraded groves and 640 trees per hectare in the nearby Brahagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, making these estates amongst the densest agro-forestry systems in the world.
“Very few landscapes across the world grow coffee in the way in which Kodagu does,” said C.G. Kushalappa, university head for forestry and environment sciences at the College of Forestry, Ponnampet in Kodagu. “We grow both Arabica and Robusta coffee under the shade of the trees. Our shade-grown Robusta fetch a premium price. When grown under the shade, the berries mature slowly and fill out better. They have good cupping (taste) quality.”
However, he needed scientific data to convince the coffee farmers and the district administration that there was strong ecosystem benefit in maintaining the traditional shade-growing methods. The opportunity for doing this research emerged when the College of Forestry was chosen as the lead institute in India to carry out the Coffee Agro-Forestry Network, or CAFNET study to understand the environmental services from this unique landscape.
Financed by the European Commission, the study was jointly conducted by the College of Forestry, the Coffee Board, the French Institute at Puducherry, CIRAD (the French national agricultural research system) and Bangor University from the United Kingdom between 2007 and 2011.
Rich local knowledge
The study noted that the multi-storeyed coffee agro-forestry system developed and sustained by the farmers based on their local knowledge is one of the most diverse production systems in the world. The traditional coffee agro-forestry system sustains diverse animal, bird, plant and microorganisms, and provide biodiversity, carbon sequestration and water-related ecosystem services. Since multiple crops such as pepper, mandarin oranges, vanilla and timber is also grown in these systems, they help provide resilience to farmers when they are hit by coffee price volatility.
The CAFNET report recommended that coffee farmers growing Arabica and Robusta under shade trees should be paid for the ecosystem services that their farms provide, so that they can protect biodiversity and therefore water in the Cauvery. Two methodologies for payment for ecosystem services suggested was eco-certification and geographical indications protection for Kodagu coffee.
Eco-certification of coffee farms in Kodagu started as a follow-up to this recommendation. Coffee farmer BB Thammaiah says his interest was piqued when students from the College of Forestry came to his farm to carry out biodiversity studies. “After the studies I was told about the uniqueness of the method in which I grow coffee, and I went in for eco-certification,” he said.
The two eco-certifications that have been popularly accepted are from the Rainforest Alliance and Utz. Coffee grower KK Naren in Kunda village near Ponnampet said the main benefit of the eco-certification process is that farmers are trained in good practices that have good environmental benefits and improve the working and living conditions for the workers.
“The economic benefit is not much,” he said. “It is more of training for us, which will be beneficial in the long run. The eco-certification process educates the coffee farmers about the environment.”
Importance of native trees
The most important lesson from the training relating to the eco-certification, according to Narenm was the understanding on the importance of native trees. “It is not that we didn’t know about native trees but we were not that keen on maintaining them,” he said. “The native trees do not give good financial returns, so we gave importance to silver oak.”
According to Naren, the Rainforest Alliance eco-certification process looks at whether native shade trees are present. The certifiers and auditors also look at labour management, whether the minimum labour wage is paid and the cleanliness around the labour quarters. They are very strict about not using child labour. “They also look at the way chemicals are used,” he said. “They are not saying no to chemicals but there are restrictions to some chemicals and the way the rest are used. They are keen that we should not use pesticides of chemicals near the rivers or tanks. They give importance to maintain local environment.”
Individual planters like Thammaiah and Naren got an opportunity, through the eco-certificaion process, to access the international market through a Swiss procurement agency that buys higher quality coffee. Both of them sell their eco-certified coffee to Ecom Gill, who procures the eco-certified produce for supply to Nespresso.
For Tata Global Beverages Ltd and its production subsidiary Tata Coffee Ltd, the move to eco-certification of all of its 13 estates in Kodagu was an important step in the process to make its supply chain sustainable. According to Anurag Priyadarshi, global sustainability manager for Tata Global Beverages, one of the guiding principles that the group has adopted is to source sustainability. For this, all their estates in Kodagu have been eco-certified by Rainforest Alliance and Utz.
“Through the eco-certification process we are trying to ensure good management practices for the ecosystem, energy, water, waste, soil and agro-chemicals. We ensure the safety of the produce and also occupational health of the workers. Ultimately we want to prevent the impacts of climate change,” he said.
MB Ganapathy, head of plantations for Tata Coffee, said the company is aware about the fact that they are growing coffee in Kodagu, which is a biodiversity hotspot in the Western Ghats. “We have recognised this fact and that is the reason that our vision is to enhance the ecological wealth we have inherited. The eco-certification helps us safeguard the environment.”
Challenges remain
However, the rapid spread of the eco-certification process has also raised some hiccups which need to be overcome, states TR Shankar Raman, scientist at the Nature Conservation Foundation, whose organisation was involved with helping Rainforest Alliance with the certification in the initial years. The three points of concern, according to him, is the very rapid pace at which certification is being done; the relative absence of biologists and social scientists in the auditing process; and the dilution of conservation standards (like the requisite number of native species and canopy cover) in subsequent versions of the certification guidelines.
“While the rapid certification has more and more farmers being eco-certified, we hope the rigour of the process continues to be maintained, so that the end result of conserving the native vegetation is not compromised,” Raman observed.
With more farmers opting for eco-certification, there is a movement towards the protection of the traditional methods of coffee cultivation under the shade of mixed-tree species. For the process to strengthen the farmers should continue to get good economic benefit for their eco-certified produce.
According to Naren, if there is at least 10% more returns from the eco-certified coffee remains constant then there will be an incentive for the opting for opting for the process. At present the price at which procurement agencies such as Ecom Gill buy is linked to the international market price, plus a premium of Rs 60 to Rs 80 for a 50 kg bag of sun-dried cherries. The international prices fluctuate in relation to the local market prices, and as with the current situation can go below the domestic price.
However, Kushalappa says that in addition to the premium, there are other incentives and bonuses for producing good quality coffee beans. The average increase in price above the local market price was around 15% last year, which is well worth the effort.
If additional income for coffee farmers from eco-certification can help conserve unique agro-forestry ecosystem of Kodagu, then it will be the water flow into the Cauvery that would be conserved. Millions of people downstream, including the residents of Bengaluru and other parts of peninsular India, will thank the coffee farmers upstream for their drinking water and climate resilience.
This article first appeared on India Climate Dialogue.
source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> Environmental Balance / by S Gopikrishna Warrier / September 17th, 2016
CNC Celebrates Edmyar-1 Kodava New Year Day By Ploughing Paddy Fields
Madikeri:
Codava National Council (CNC), which is aspiring for Codavaland Geo-Political Autonomy and ST tag for Kodava tribalism, celebrated its 26th Annual Codava (Kodava) New Year Day Edmyar-1 as per Kodava tribal almanac by ritualistic ploughing of paddy fields.
CNC President N. U. Nachappa offered prayers to Guru-Karonas at Koopadira clan and reverential prayers to Mother Earth, Sun, Moon before two bullocks named Karianna – Kulla, ploughed a few rounds in the wetlands of Koopadira clan.
To herald the unbreakable bondage of Kodava tribal world with mother soil to entire universe, CNC is determined to showcase and display the age-old folkloric cultural traits and genus of Kodava tribal ancestry. In other words, all these ancient festivities enriched the civilisation of Kodava martial tribe.
CNC also prayed for the well-being of all the people of this world that is reeling under the pandemic COVID-19. Koopadira Sabu, Koopadira Mohan Muthanna, Lt. Col. Parvathi, Kompulira Myna Purandara and Koopadira Pranam participated in the celebrations.
Due to Corona pandemic, CNC’s Annual Edmyar-1 evening’s torchlight (pombolak) procession at Gonikoppal, is not being celebrated today. Speaking on the occasion, Nachappa said, “All Codava folkloric festivities and rituals mirror the agro-pastoral commitment, hunting skills and warrior hood of Codava tribal folk from time immemorial which depicts that we are above the tenets of caste and religion who are living in the rustic hills, mountainous terrain in the midst of rivers and rivulets.”
“We are happy that the Founding Father of the Constitution of India, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s birthday coincides with Codava New Year. We are ever grateful to Dr. Ambedkar for his yeomen contribution of accommodating space for expressing grievances of micro-minority tribes like Codava tribe,” he observed.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Covid-19> News / April 14th, 2020
Making Coffee in Coorg
We walked through meandering coffee plantations and around precarious corners that led up steep cliffs. “Most of these coffee farms belong to local families trying to make a living. They do most of the work themselves. It is difficult labor,” Aarush, the enthusiastic tourism manager at Mojo Plantation, explained. Eventually the forest ascended into open valleys overlooking thick, emerald rainforest below. “You see the mountainside there? There were huge landslides last year.”
Each year during the rainy season, torrential rains cause mudslides that destroy homes, villages, and farmland. Nonetheless, Coorg’s exceptional beauty alongside the promise of fertile land and the increasing boom of the coffee industry have made this slice of southern India an attractive destination to build a livelihood for centuries.
History of Coffee in India
India is a nation typically renowned for its tea. Chai wallahsare found on corners across India selling small cups of tea from roadside stands and carts. Grand tea estates and blossoming tea plantations cover hill stations across both northern and southern India. However, India also has a little-known coffee history that has blossomed into a flourishing industry in recent years.
History tells it that in 1670, a Muslim pilgrim named Baba Budan snuck seven coffee beans in his beard aboard a ship to India. Upon arrival, he planted these beans in the Chikmagalur region near Coorg in Karnataka. At this time, it was illegal to transport green coffee beans outside of Yemen, and the ports were strictly monitored in an effort to maintain a monopoly on local coffee production and trade.
Baba Budan was not only successful at sneaking them out of Yemen but also successfully planted them in Chandragiri Hills. Legend has it that the Baba had his friends carry the beans with them and plant them wherever they went, mostly in gardens and backyards. Coffee production prospered in Chandragiri Hills over the next century. However, the bean didn’t spread throughout other parts of India until the 19th century, when coffee started being exported for trade. Coffee now flourishes in Karnataka, where the slopes of the Western Ghats are brought to life with the fresh aromas of arabica and robusta plants.
Welcome to Coorg
Also known as Kodagu in the local Kodava language, Coorg is a district and hill station in southern Karnataka, a state on India’s southwestern coast. Coorg is rich with colorful folklore and a dynamic history.
“You know there are sacred forests in Coorg? People worship the forests and the species living in them,” Aarush mused. The original Kodava inhabitants were agriculturalists, still evident today in the protection of forests and the emphasis on agriculture in the region.
The undeniable natural beauty and abundance in Coorg—from rainfall and rice fields to fertile soil and diverse water sources—made the region a highly sought-after location to outsiders throughout history. Nonetheless, the Haleri dynasty, which ruled from 1600, withstood countless attempted invasions of Coorg for centuries, reigning strong and quelling outside attacks.
The last king, Chikka Veerarajendra, however, lost the support of his people and eventually the warriors who once propped up the Haleri dynasty also brought it to an end. Shortly thereafter, in 1834, a Coorg general named Apparanda Bopanna invited the British forces into the kingdom. Despite previous resistance to British influence, the partnership with the British beckoned in a period of peace and prosperity. The British introduced coffee cultivation on a mass scale, capitalizing on the coffee beans that were brought over some centuries earlier.
The first coffee estate was established in Coorg in 1854 by an Englishman named John Fowler. Soon, almost every family in Coorg began to grow the infamous bean that energizes people across the globe. This tradition has been carried through generations to present day, perhaps contributing to the nickname Coorg has acquired of being “the coffee cup of India.”
Contemporary Sustainable Farming
Coffee in south India is a competitive commodity to the infamous tea that dominates India’s northern states. Estates are plentiful in the southern Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The plants grow beneath thick, natural shade in ecologically diverse and sensitive regions of the Western and Eastern Ghats. Coffee plantations simultaneously contribute to the biodiversity of the local ecosystem and to the socioeconomic development of these hilly, rural regions.
Coorg grows 40 percent of India’s coffee, and the local economy relies heavily on it. The majority of the uninhabited land is cultivated coffee farms, many of them still owned by families as they were when coffee estates first emerged in the mid-19th century.
Today, Karnataka yields 140,000 tons of coffee a year and is the largest producer of coffee in the country. As a whole, India produces 299,300 tons of coffee annually, according to a 2019-2020 census by THE COFFEE BOARD OF INDIA. India is the third-largest producer and exporter of coffee in Asia and the sixth-largest producer and fifth-largest exporter of coffee in the world. It accounts for 3.14 percent of the global coffee production. Seventy percent of India’s coffee is exported, and thirty percent is distributed and consumed domestically.
Spice Farms
Even though Coorg might be known as the coffee cup of India, the region has been renowned for its spices for centuries, long predating the introduction of coffee. Coorg pepper is particularly famous. Since ancient times, traders arrived at the Malabar Coast in bordering Kerala to purchase the treasured black spice grown in the emerald hills of Coorg. Cardamom, cloves and kokum, among other spices, grow abundant in Coorg and supplied the Malabar spice coast trade. Coffee hasn’t replaced the spice trade in Coorg, but rather complemented it. Today, on many estates, coffee and spices grow side by side and benefit from the diversification of the local eco-system.
Sustainable Tourism and Agriculture
“Can you smell the flowers? Doesn’t it smell like jasmine?” Sunal, my guide at Evolve Back asks me. He is right. I notice a discernible scent of jasmine permeating the air as we walk through rows of blossoming coffee trees. “When the coffee trees are ripe, they have small, white flowers that smell like jasmine.” The rows of arabica and robusta trees hang heavy with burgundy-colored fruit and delicate white flowers. Interspersed among the blossoming coffee trees are ladders of pepper vines climbing into the sky.
There are two different climates in Coorg—rainforest and dry, temperate forests—both of which are friendly for coffee growing conditions. A region relatively far off the typical tourism track, the increasing focus on sustainable, organic farming alongside experiential travel has been monumental in encouraging intentional and experiential travel in Coorg. A handful of initiatives have developed sustainable, organic coffee growing, which is leading to a regionwide awareness around responsible agritourism.
I started my time at RAINFOREST RETREAT, which is situated outside of Coorg’s main town, Madikeri, and offers an educational and immersive coffee-based tourism experience. This organic farm and guesthouse feeds into the concept of organic, sustainable agriculture. Set amid tropical rainforest, Rainforest Retreat and the adjoined Mojo Plantation are a deeply researched experiment in ecological farming. Understanding and playing to the strengths of the eco-system, the plantation focuses on “agro-ecology.” They encourage all forms of organic farming, including biodynamic farming, permaculture and traditional practices such as panchkavyaandjeevamruth, which all help to sustain healthy, living soils.
On Mojo Plantation, the coffee and spices flourish side by side amid the riches of the rainforest. During my stay, I spent hours each day meandering through thick growth of native trees, vanilla, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, and black pepper crops; and coffee trees heavy with ripened arabica and robusta beans. The growth of the rainforest canopy is left natural, allowing for the fungi, spiders and insects native to the ecosystem to their important role in the ecological coffee and spice farming in this region. Mojo Plantation also produces the delicacy luwak coffee. The civet cat ingests coffee beans and the excrements are collected and processed into some of the most expensive coffee available on the market.
Mojo Plantation also runs an NGO, which offers workshops and trainings for farmers and agricultural businesses about organic, chemical-free practices, to encourage a continued shift and commitment to ecological farming as a method to grow organic coffee and spices.
From Rainforest Retreat, I traveled to EVOLVE BACK, which sits on the opposite side of Coorg in a more temperate climate. This family-run plantation and guesthouse dating back over a century stands as an example of the entwinement of mostly domestic tourism and the coffee industry in Coorg. Inviting guests to stay amid an organic coffee and spice plantation, Evolve Back offers a complete immersion into the ebbs and flows of work on a coffee plantation.
Each day a new experience that was immersive, sustainable and educational. I walked through the expansive breadth of the plantation, abundant in plant and spice varietals. I learned about and visited each step of coffee cultivation, from the fields, to sun-drying the beans, to processing the beans in the factory. I tasted surprisingly smooth coffee wine, a fermented drink made from remaining coffee juice after the beans were separated from their skins. I cycled through villages along the river Cauvary. On my final day, I joined farmers in the field to pick ripe coffee beans. At the end of an afternoon in the fields, I sunk my teeth into delightfully pink rose apples as the truck pulled away, leaving me with the sight of coffee fields receding into the horizon.
Local Consumption
At some point during the 19th century, South Indians began to adopt coffee drinking, and adapted it with their own style. They brew their coffee with milk and sweeten it with jaggery. While coffee remains a beverage mostly consumed at home across India, the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are plentiful with street-side coffee stands, much like the chai stands throughout northern India.
“We have saved the best for last: India’s infamous Kaapi coffee,” the barista at Evolve Back announced. Each afternoon Evolve Back hosts a coffee tasting for its guests to try different roasts and ways to brew coffee, from cappuccino to Vietnamese, and including India’s very own coffee, known as Kaapi. Amid the thick green coffee plantations and the stirrings of the surrounding jungle, the barista carefully pours steaming cups of Kaapi.
Also known as South India filter coffee, Kaapi is India’s most recognized coffee specialty. This brew requires boiling milk, to which coffee and sugar are added. The liquid is processed through a cylindrical filter. After the tedious filtration process, the frothy concoction is poured into a metal cup, known as a davara, which is served inside a stainless-steel tumbler.
After days of having to turn down coffee after coffee due to an inexplicable caffeine intolerance I have had for a decade, I couldn’t resist tasting the smooth, flavorful specialty. I savored the few sips I allowed myself to indulge in, drinking in the centuries-long history of coffee that its way into this unassuming forested region off the southwest coast of India.
**Note: Names have been changed for privacy purposes
source: http://www.whetstonemagazine.com / Whetstone / Home> Journal / by Alicia Erikson , Text and Photo www.journeywithalicia.com / September 14th
