Secretary, Land Resources, Y. Kikheto Sema IAS sharing prospects of coffee plantation in Nagaland at CCRI Chikkmagalur, Karnataka. (Morung Photo)
Assuring all possible guidance and assistance to the state Land Resources Department for coffee plantation, the Central Coffee Research Institute, Chikkmagalur, Karnataka has agreed to depute scientists and technical experts to the state to study the climatic condition and feasibility of coffee plantations.
Speaking to The Morung Express over the phone from Bangalore, Secretary, Land Resources, Y Kikheto Sema IAS said that the Director CCRI, Dr. Raguramulu expressed happiness over the Nagaland team’s visit and agreed to depute coffee experts to Nagaland and also to provide whatever coffee seeds were required by the state.
Kikheto said that the climatic conditions of Karnataka and Nagaland were similar and expressed optimism that the state would see a landmark growth in coffee plantation with technical experts providing their valuable expertise after examining the feasibility.
He said Dr. Raguramulu recalled about the establishment of Coffee Demonstration Farm at Kiruphema in the past, which could not take off effectively owing to frequent landslides and volatile situation in the state. However, Kikheto apprised the CCRI Director that Nagaland was relatively peaceful now and assured of all government support for establishing Coffee (Arabica) Research Centre in the state.
CCRI officials, scientists and State Land Resources Department officers held a joint meeting on Wednesday at the former’s office, where Kikheto presented a power point presentation on the status of coffee in Nagaland.
He said Coffee plantation has an edge over rubber and tea since it could be intercropped with other crops such as banana, orange, citrus, pepper etc, while mixed cropping was not possible for the latter two crops. He said that the Land Resources Department was yet to receive funds even as it has been declared as the nodal department for revival of coffee plantation in the state.
Kikheto informed that the state LRD team were taken on a coffee farm visit by the officials and famers and also taken to Chikkmagalur coffee laboratory.
The LRD officials also visited the Coffee Sub Research Centre, Coorg on Thursday with CBI officials on Thursday.
“We have learned a lot from the field and laboratory visits about coffee plantation and we will accordingly train our farmers back home with proper guidance and assistance from the CCRI,” Kikheto said.
He informed that 70% of coffee production in the country was from Karnataka. Kikheto extended gratitude to the CBI Bangalore, CCRI Chikkmagalur and Coffee Sub Research Centre, Coorg for their support and cooperation.
source: http://www.morungexpress.com / The Morung Express / Home / by Morung Express News / Dimapur – October 20th, 2016(posted October 21st, 2016)
Officials of Land Resources Department, Nagaland and Coffee Board of India after a meeting in Bangalore on Monday
Citing feasibility and viability of coffee plantation in the state, the Nagaland State Department of Land Resources has requested the Coffee Board of India (CBI), Bangalore to enhance the allocation of coffee seeds to the state.
This request was made by a team of department officials led by its Secretary, Y. Kikheto Sema IAS and five other officers during a meeting with officials of the CBI, Bangalore at the latter’s office on Monday.
Speaking at the meeting, Kikheto said that there was vast coffee plantation in the state during the 1980s, however, it became a failed crop owing to lack of awareness, marketing and management problem. He said the farmers began to cut down coffee plants in desperation and that around 40 hectares remained now.
Kikheto said that a research conducted out of that 40 hectares, it was found that Arabica species coffee grown in the state was one of the best.
It may be mentioned that the state government on September 2016 had made the Department of Land Resources as the nodal department for revival of coffee plantation.
He said that the CBI had allocated 300 kgs coffee seeds during 2015-2016 but ran short since the demand was high in the state. Kikheto requested the CBI to allocate at least 4000 kgs seeds to cover 4000 hectares and added that the payment would be prompt. Responding to this request, Director of Finance, CBI, Dr. Arati Devan Gupta assured the Department officials of looking into the matter for enhancing coffee seeds allocation.
Kikheto said that the department was targeting coffee plantation coverage of about 50, 000 hectares by 2030.
He also said that the department during 2015-16 had developed 230 hectares of coffee plantation and plans to cover 600 hectares this year.
Pointing out that coffee harvesting takes about four years after planting, Kikheto asked the CBI for possible assistance to coffee farmers during the initial years of plantation and also for maintenance of nurseries.
He also made a request for establishing Arabica Coffee Research Centre in Nagaland, since the state is planning for coffee plantation on a large scale and constant research is required.
Kiheto said that the day was significant for the department since a group of three different officers’ team were attending important meetings. One team led by Additional Director, Renbenthung Jami is attending the annual rubber conference organized by Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries at Guwahati where a new clone developed by Rubber Board of India exclusively for planting in NE was being released. Another team led by Director, Hoto Yepthomi was at Mokokchung for Springshed training programme.
The Secretary was accompanied by Deputy Director, C. Vanchamo Ngullie, Officer incharge Coffee and four District Project Officers.
This information was provided to The Morung Express over the phone by Secretary, Land Resources, Y. Kikheto Sema IAS.
source: http://www.morungexpress.com / The Morung Express / Home / by Morung Express News / Dimapur – October 17th, 2016(posted October 18th, 2016)
India has made a pitch to host the International Coffee Organisation’s (ICO) fifth World Coffee Conference in the country’s coffee capital Bengaluru in 2020.
ICO, the main inter-governmental organisation for the coffee producing and consuming countries, is keen that India host the next conference.
A formal decision from the apex body of the coffee producing and consuming nations is likely to be expected in March 2017, said MK Shanmuga Sundaram, Chairman, Coffee Board, confirming India’s bid to host the global meet.
Every four years, ICO holds the high-level World Coffee Conference to enable discussion around critical topics for the global coffee sector. Previously the conferences have been held in England in 2001, Brazil in 2005, Guatemala in 2010 and in Ethiopia in 2016.
ICO, which is working to strengthen the global coffee sector and promote its sustainable expansion in a market-based environment, has member governments representing 98 per cent of the world coffee production and 83 per cent of world consumption.
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> Economy> Agri Business / The Hindu Bureau / Bengaluru – October 14th, 2016
Left to right: a coffee tonic gets made by Kimhak Em at Peixoto Coffee in Downtown Chandler. / Kimhak Em
Maybe you got too caught up in colorful cans of LaCroix to notice, but over the summer, at cafes al over the country, Instagram snaps of what might have otherwise have been latte art were replaced, now and again, by some … bubbly, layered beverage in a plastic cup.
Yeah, what were those? Tan and foamy on top, mysteriously dark in the middle, clear and effervescent on bottom.
We saw it at Cartel. We saw it at Futuro. We saw it at Kream and at Peixoto.
These were clearly no boring cups of cold brew.
As the name suggests, it’s simple: a “coffee tonic;” iced, sparkling tonic water with a shot of espresso layered — not splashed — over top. You have to do it slowly; the copper-colored layer of bubbles sitting on the espresso, called “crema,” is volatile CO2 and since too much friction with fizzy water can result in quite a mess, baristas take it slow.
If you can consider a soda a soft drink that’s been carbonated, flavored, sweetened, and served cold, then you can view the coffee tonic for what it is: a coffee soda, albeit a freshly made one. Given the prominent role that the concentrated coffee plays in the beverage, this drink has really only gotten popular within the specialty coffee sector, where shops tend to pay a greater attention to the flavor of espresso.
Tonic water is pretty sweet, thanks to a good amount of added sugar, but it’s there to balance the beverage’s bittering agent, called quinine; the same stuff that lends pleasant bitter quality to your Italian liqueurs.
Some shops like Futuro put their tonic trust in a proven brand. In that shop’s case, Fever Tree, the standard bearer as of now for the tonic industry — if you asked for a gin and tonic at a craft cocktail bar, they’re probably using Fever Tree. A few widely distributed craft brands like Q are now available as well. Either way, most brands will deliver a neutral flavor that lets the complex flavors in a quality, nicely pulled shot of espresso shine, just as it would let an interesting and nuanced gin. There’s a locally made tonic mixer, too, made by Iconic Cocktail Co, which is flavored with kaffir lime.
Cartel flavored theirs, when they had it (it’s not currently on the menu; it may come back). It was simply tonic water, espresso, with a smidge of vanilla bean paste dotted in.
“We felt the vanilla bean paste helped to make it a bit rounder and accentuate the complex character of the espresso,” says Amanda Cohen, Cartel Coffee Lab’s director of education and quality control. Kream coffee, by contrast, squeezes citrus in theirs to amplify the acidity already present in espresso and the tangy flavor of the quinine.
The most from-scratch end of the coffee tonic spectrum is represented by the folks over at Peixoto, in Chandler. They make their own tonic syrup from start to finish, and add in flavors they feel will compliment the type of espresso. A formula of quinine, citric acid, and sweeter can turn into, for instance, a tonic syrup flavored with ginger and lime, and sweetened with agave. The shop currently offers this variety. They add soda water to the syrup and float the espresso atop. This approach appeals to Kimhak Em, who develops recipes and oversees quality control at the shop and has a background in culinary school. He wanted to put a culinary spin on a drink that’s been trending in coffee shops around the nation.
“I think the first time I had an espresso tonic was at one of the shops that I frequented in the Bay Area,” Em says. That was close to two years ago.
The drink hasn’t existed all that long — it began at a very prominent coffee shop and roaster in Sweden called Koppi. When a coffee shop called Saint Frank opened in San Francisco in late 2013, they paid homage to Koppi’s drink, making their own version — still just Fever Tree tonic, ice, and espresso — called the Kaffe Tonic (kaffe being the Swedish word for coffee). As Saint Frank rose to prominence in eyes of coffee professionals across the country, shops began adopting their own version, some sticking to the drink’s paired down roots, and others opting to personalize.
Three years later, it looks like the drink has stuck.
Editor’s Note: Shelby Moore works with Futuro in various capacities.
source: http://www.phoenixnewstimes.com / Phoenix News Times / Home / by Shelby Moore / Tuesday – October 11th, 2016
Demand for coffee is booming in an increasingly caffeinated world, and although Myanmar is capable of producing international-quality product it has neglected the crop for years. But agricultural ministry officials are hoping to develop a coordinated strategy to ramp up production and connect cultivators with world markets.
A barista competes in the Myanmar Latte Art Competition in Yangon in June. Photo: Aung Htay Hlaing / The Myanmar Times
Myanmar has been growing coffee for years but in relatively small amounts. An itinerant Scotsman brought a strain of arabica to the Mandalay hill town Pyin Oo Lwin in the 1930s, and it is still grown today, U Myint Swe, director of the coffee crop branch under the ministry’s agriculture department, told The Myanmar Times.
But the agricultural sector’s overwhelming focus has been on an industrial approach to growing crops like rice and beans for domestic consumption and export, said U Tin Htut from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation.
“Coffee was previously a neglected crop,” he said during a ministry research workshop on coffee growing in Myanmar on September 28. But U Tin Htut is hoping that ministry workshops can help produce a strategy to boost coffee production and tap into a strong global market.
The annual growth rate in global coffee consumption has averaged 2 percent since 2011, and the world consumed the equivalent of 152.2 million 60kg bags in 2015, according to the intergovernmental International Coffee Organisation.
US demand is higher than ever, and two shipments of coffee beans to the US in August represented Myanmar’s first commercial-scale exports to that country in over 15 years, according to Reuters. The US recently announced it was lifting almost all remaining sanctions against Myanmar, and would reinstate generalised system of preferences (GSP) benefits on November 13.
Myanmar is well placed to take advantage of the global thirst and improving economic relations with the US. At a US coffee expo in June 2015, Myanmar-produced strains of arabica and catimor coffees were deemed world-standard in a quality test – receiving higher marks than most other coffees shown at the event, U Myint Swe said.
“The strains have also been tested in Germany, and they also sent a report saying the quality was world- standard,” he added.
Local firms have taken advantage of Myanmar’s climate and regional demand. Yangon-based firm Coffee Genius, owned by Ko Ngwe Tun, has exported its Shan highlands coffee to Singapore and also enjoyed high marks from the Specialty Coffee Association of America.
But although Myanmar’s local industry can produce exceptional quality, it also faces production and marketing problems that have made it hard to reach international markets, U Myint Swe said.
Strains like the arabica have been grown for over 80 years, but a lack of finance has seen little in the way of progress.
“Crop yields have decreased steadily, although the quality has not,” U Myint Swe said. The useful life of a coffee plant, depending on growing conditions, is 20 to 30 years. “In other countries, once a coffee plant reaches 30 years old it is cut down and new ones planted,” he said. “But in our country we don’t cut them down, we make existing plants produce new shoots and branches.”
Although the international market is booming – driven mainly by rising consumption in developed economies – Myanmar’s local market for coffee is poor and cultivators are producing less in response, U Zaw Tun Myint, director general of the Agriculture Department, told The Myanmar Times.
The ministry wants to see coffee planted and grown according to international-standard practice, but in order to get cultivators onside the ministry has to improve the market, he added.
“We need to cooperate with the department and expand the market for growers,” he said. “Right now profits [in the local market] are low, so growers lower inputs, which lowers quality, which lowers prices and pushes profits down further. We need to reverse this vicious cycle.”
The acreage given to coffee plantations in Myanmar is shrinking and is now less than 50,000 acres – down from over 60,000 acres at the peak of production many years ago, he said.
U Tin Htut from the agriculture department’s coffee branch said collaboration between agricultural experts, exporters and planters is crucial to remedy the slump in production. He is helping work on a strategy paper for coffee development in Myanmar.
“Now is the time to really perform,” he said. Myanmar has the human resources and skills, but needs to improve the agricultural system in order to catch up with regional competitors, he added.
The coffee strategy should include targets for the next 10 years, and cover market research, finance, technical assistance, farmer training and which strains should be planted more widely, he said. The plan will be sent to a parliamentary economic committee, which includes the vice president and officials from the finance and commerce ministries, he said.
U Myint Swe said the plan will take around six months to draw up, and should involve assistance from experts from the agriculture department, USAID, the Myanmar Coffee Planting Association and other coffee experts.
But industry interest bodes well. At the ministry workshop on coffee growing last month over 40 members of the Coffee Planting Association and the private sector attended the meeting, joined by over 100 experts and officials from government departments, U Zaw Myint Tun said.
“It was the first big meeting on coffee in the last five years,” he said. “It’s a very encouraging situation. We held meetings in the past, but there wasn’t as much freedom as there is now.”
Translation by Win Thaw Tar and Khine Thazin Han
source: http://www.mmtimes.com / Myanmar Times / Home> Business / by Htoo Thant / Wednesday – October 05th, 2016
This coffee-infused bioelastic foam can filter lead from water. Photo by Chavan et al., ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng., 2016
Tune in tonight on PBS NewsHour where Miles O’Brien will look at the hazards and history of lead as part of his Leading Edge series.
Needless to say, humans have a coffee obsession.
Last year, global coffee consumption weighed in at 10 million tons — or one and half Great Pyramids worth of beans ground into caffeinated oblivion. Now, a lab at the Italian Institute of Technology wants to put those discarded grounds to good use.
The team has engineered a coffee grounds-infused foam that removes hazardous metals, like lead, from water. Though still in its prototype phase, this foam might be able to clear the worst levels of lead contamination found in places like Flint, Michigan, within a few hours.
“The proposed method is cheaper [than current large-scale filtration systems], since it uses principally costless waste,” said IIT physicist Despina Fragouli who led the project. “and more sustainable compared to other systems, where synthetic materials are used.”
The idea isn’t entirely new. Scientists have known for years that coffee contains chemical groups — called carboxylates — that stick to metals. Early attempts at this water remediation concept tried smashing the coffee grounds into a fine powder, which was then mixed into lead-tainted water. The toxic metals bind the powder, and together, they are filtered out of the water. But this procedure is a bit redundant — you need a filter for a filter.
Fragouli and her colleagues simplified this process by chemically infusing the coffee powder onto a elastic foam. The final spongy foam is 60 to 70 percent coffee by weight.
Left panel: Bioelastic foam with the spent coffee powder indicated by the yellow circles and the inset. Right panel: Pure elastic foam without coffee powder. Photo by Chavan et al., ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng., 2016
“Both the coffee and the heavy metal ions are entrapped in the foam,” Fragouli said of her findings published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. “Therefore, no additional procedures are required for the removal of the [coffee] adsorbents and the pollutants from the water.”
So, a water official would simply pull the foam from the water to take out the metal toxins. The rate of removal depends on how much lead is in the water. If Fragouli’s team started with water containing nine parts per million of lead — 360 times higher than most common amount found during the Flint water crisis — the foam could remove a third of the contamination in 30 minutes.
Though promising, Fragouli said more research is needed to determine if the foam can obtain lead and mercury levels appropriate for drinking, especially with gunky water flowing through real-world pipes. So far, the sole field test occurred with wastewater from the IIT’s chemistry department, which contained a mixture of metal ions.
“The results show that the metal ions of interest can be effectively removed,” Fragouli said.
source: http://www.pbs.org / PBS Newshour / Home> The Run Down> Science / by Nsikan Akpan / September 28th, 2016
International Coffee Day was celebrated in Kodagu by giving piping hot coffee to tourists at Dubare elephant camp.
Representatives of 77 nations are members of the International Coffee Association and the Coffee Day is celebrated worldwide to promote coffee sales on par with prouction.
Woman folk took the lead in coffee awareness programme. Kodagu deputy commissioner R V D’souza inaugurated the coffee show. He said Kodagu produces the best quality coffee while stressing the need for better marketing.
Madikeri DFO Edukondalu opined that such awareness campaigns will help increase coffee consumption.
Senior scientist from Appangala Research Station Dr. Ankegowda said coffee is a healthy drink and many researches have proved it.
Convener of the women team of coffee awareness campaign Chitra Subbaiah announced that more and more awareness campaigns will be conducted in coming days. She appealed to the tourism department to provide Kodagu coffee to tourists who visit the district.
Several coffee products were exhibited during the coffee festival. In Madikeri also several organizations served coffee to tourists at Raja Seat.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City News> Mysore / TNN / October 03rd, 2016
Coffee Board of India will mark ‘International Coffee Day’ on October 1 by organising CAFFEST in partnership with coffee growers, industry stakeholders and consumers.
The International Coffee Organisation (ICO) declared October 1 as ‘International Coffee Day’ in 2015. “This year we will be celebrating the second International Coffee Day at the Coffee Board headquarters in Bengaluru,” said the Coffee Board’s Finance Director.
The day presenets an opportunity to promote and celebrate coffee as a beverage, with events organised across the world.
As part of CAFFEST, the Coffee Board is planning to provide a platform to showcase the best Indian coffees wherein young coffee entrepreneurs and Self Help Groups (SHGs) will showcase their products. A brewing demonstration will also be organised for the benefit of the pubic to educate them on the positive aspects of coffee drinking.
On the occasion, a street play and a skit on the theme coffee will be enacted by the well-known TV/stage artist from Prathibha Art Foundation, Bengaluru, in two sessions – at 11 am and 4 pm. A poster designing competition on the theme of coffee will also be organised.
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> Economy> Agri Business / by Anil Urs / Bengaluru – September 28th, 2016
Price which had plummetted to Rs.100 a kg now goes up to Rs.130
The prices of coffee have picked up in the retail market after remaining at a low for the past two years. The prices in the retail market ranged from Rs.124 to Rs.130 a kg on Friday.
The prices of coffee had reached the bottom level of below Rs.100 during the last harvesting season. There are signs of a further increase in prices owing to the high demand in the international market. A senior official of the Coffee Board told The Hindu on Friday that the prices in the retail markets were decided by the prices in the international markets of London and New York. The prices were on an upward trend, mainly during September, to reach the present level.
Brazil the competitor
The Arabica and Robusta varieties were mainly cultivated in the State and the main competitor for Arabica is Brazil, its largest producer. Vietnam is the largest producer of Robusta coffee and the present demand in the international market is owing to a production fall in Brazil. The prices of the Robusta variety were correspondingly on the rise owing to an increase in demand in the world coffee blending sector.
According to the research wing of the Coffee Board, there may not be a serious slump in coffee production in the State owing to erratic rains. The official estimate is about a 10 to 12 per cent of production drop owing to the shortfall in the rains.
India accounts for the second largest production of coffee after Brazil. Of the 3,42,000 ha of land under cultivation, the average was 2,62,000 tonnes, as per the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s 2012 estimate.
Topper is Karnataka
Of the total production, Karnataka accounts for 71 per cent followed by Kerala (21 per cent) and Tamil Nadu five per cent.
Unlike other cash crops, small-scale landholders account for the majority of coffee production. However, the rise in the prices in the middle of the beans-growing season is unlikely to help the farmers.
The prices were on a downward trend for the past four years. A local businessmen at Kattappana, the main market for hill produce, said the prices were unlikely to fall, as they were on a steady rise. In the last harvest season, many farmers had abandoned crops, as the cost of labour was higher than that the price of coffee in the retail markets.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / Idukki – September 25th, 2016
Timothy and Sharon, along with their son | Martin Louis
If you were an entrepreneur, you would know the kind of ground work that has to take place before kick-starting your business.
Timothy Immanuel and his wife Sharon Dominica, who hope to start a coffee shop soon, understood the importance of research and decided to tweak this tedious process to make it more fun.
They decided to travel across the country to explore various kinds of coffee, their origins and methods of preparation, covering states like UP, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerela and Tamil Nadu.
“We love long drives, and thought that this was an opportunity for one memorable drive. We have driven to different parts of UP, Jaipur and even Nepal earlier. But this would be much longer and had to be planned carefully,” says Sharon.
Although coffee is harder to grow, as compared to tea, India is the second largest coffee producer in the world and is home to a large number of plantations.
Timothy explains, “There are two main types of coffee beans – arabica and robusta, and we grow both in India. The Indian robusta bean is one of the best in the world. We learnt about all the various stages of coffee-making, in order to make sure the customer in our cafe gets the perfect cup.”
Timothy who studied hotel management and worked as an Associate Team Leader, Food and Beverage, at a five star hotel Bangalore, moved on to do his MBA, then worked as a HR consultant, while Sharon is an Occupational Therapist by profession. T
he whole idea of a coffee shop sprung up because in Noida, where they were based, there were hardly any places for people to hang out, relax, and spend time with friends and family. They thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make that happen. They started attending tea appreciation workshops and a coffee training by the coffee board of India in Bangalore.
Some of their discoveries include realising that all tea comes from one type of plant, realising that most of India drinks the lowest grades of coffee and tea, that good tea has an amazing smell of its own, and that coffee doesn’t necessarily need to be bitter. Timothy and Sharon also enjoyed sharing their experiences and getting feedback on their facebook page drive across india for coffee
The coffee shop will be located at Noida. “We want to call it The Haven, as we hope that it will be a refuge for people in our community.
In our coffee shop, we want people to experience really high quality, and specialty coffee and tea at reasonable prices. We want to give the average Indian an opportunity to go on a journey in tea and coffee, experience different types, and find out what they like. We also want to teach people more about coffee and tea.
When asked why they would go through such lengths to start a coffee shop, Sharon explains, “We want to give the best quality to our customers. The more thoroughly we’re informed, the more chances there are of succeeding.”
Reach out: http://bit.ly/2bKZaXm
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Education> Edex / by Blessy Mathew Prasad / August 22nd, 2016
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