Coffee Board Secretary and Chief Executive Officer K.G. Jagadeesha has said that the board will launch collaborative research work with coffee growers on their plantations to improve the productivity of Robusta coffee.
Speaking to The Hindu during his visit to Wayanad, a major Robusta coffee-producing region in the country, on Saturday, Mr. Jagadeesha said the research would mainly focus on clonal propagation of the Robusta variety.
Scientists from the board will give technical advice to coffee growers on clonal propagation and grafting of coffee plants on their plantations, Mr. Jagadeesha said. When growers become breeders, they can easily identify the high-yielding varieties in their own farms, and it will help them improve production of coffee, he said.
“We should not be happy with the increasing price of Robusta coffee in the market now as it is only a temporary phenomenon owing to a supply-side disruption in Brazil, a major coffee-producing country,” he said. Brazil would come back after two years, and the price of Robusta coffee in the world market might decline, Mr. Jagadeesh said.
Since there is always a demand for speciality coffee or branded coffee, farmers should focus on producing such coffee, he said, for which they should ensure the quality of coffee beans, he added.
Inherently, the quality of Indian Robusta coffee is superior, and it should be promoted, he said. The board and the stakeholders had equal responsibility for promoting it, he added.
Since the volatility in coffee prices is a major challenge facing growers, the possibility of setting up a price mechanism would be considered seriously, Mr. Jagadeesh added.
Dr. M. Karuthamani, Joint Director, Coffee Board (Extension), A. Manoj and Suresh Arimunda, Coffee Board members, also accompanied him.
They visited several coffee plantations in the district and attended a meeting organised by the Wayanad Small Coffee Growers Association.
