Odisha plans to grow 10,000 hectares of organic coffee in next five years

Odisha plans to grow 10,000 hectares of organic coffee in the next five years

State Agriculture Production Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena says that the Odisha government has made a plan to grow 10,000 hectares of organic coffee over the next five years.

‘Neighboring Andhra Pradesh has a sizable coffee plantation.’ We’ve also done well with coffee plantations, and Koraput, which is next to Andhra, is where we get high-quality Arabica coffee. ‘We have undertaken a quest to establish 10,000 hectares of coffee plantations over the next few years and eventually emerge as the country’s organic coffee-producing state,’ Jena said.

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Non-traditional areas in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and the North-East account for 21% of the total coffee crop area, according to the Coffee Board. Coffee was grown on 99,380 hectares in non-traditional areas in 2021-22, compared to 3.68 lakh hectares in traditional areas.

Andhra Pradesh has 94,956 hectares of coffee land, whereas Odisha has 4,424 hectares and the North-East has 4,695 hectares. Only Arabica coffee is grown in Odisha, whereas Andhra and the North-East have some regions under Robusta coffee cultivation.

By intention

“Coffee is cultivated in the tribal communities of Odisha.” The majority of tribal areas are organic by default. There is no chemical fertilizer used there. “However, we want these places to be organic by design now in order to take advantage of the benefit of marketing the coffee,” Jena explained.

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The government of Odisha is trying to boost production by automating and mechanizing farming on a large scale. “In fact, 20 years ago, our per capita electricity consumption was barely a quarter of the national average.” “We’ve about caught up,” he remarked.

Odisha uses 2.4 kW hours of electricity per person, which is less than the national average of 2.7 kWh. “We are now emphasizing farm mechanization and automation,” remarked the State Agriculture Production Commissioner.