In a written reply to a query in the Lok Sabha, D Purandeswari, minister of state, minister of commerce and industry, Government of India, said the Coffee Board of India implemented a comprehensive Coffee Development Programme covering the seven north-eastern states of India – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura – during the Eleventh Five-year Plan.The scheme comprises support for coffee expansion, consolidation of existing holdings, quality upgradation, marketing of coffee and raising of group nurseries. Besides these, the board, through its research and extension set-up in the north-eastern states, has been providing support in terms of research, transfer of technology and capacity-building to coffee growers.
Recently, the Board strengthened its extension manpower in the north-eastern region (NER) by filling up regular posts for an effective implementation of the coffee development programme.
The details of total funds allocated, released and utilised during the last three years are as follows:
|
Year |
Allocated |
Released |
Utilized |
|
2009-10 |
4.00 |
1.95 |
4.75* |
|
2010-11 |
4.00 |
4.00 |
4.87* |
|
2011-12 |
5.50 |
5.50 |
5.31 |
The total financial allocation for coffee development in the NER for the current financial year (2012-13) is Rs 5.50 crore, out of which 5.37 crore has been utilised as on February 2013.
There has been a gradual increase in the production of coffee in the NER. The production of coffee in the NER increased from 143.20 million tonne in 2009-10 to 220 million tonne in 2011-12.
Incidentally, the Coffee Board has been engaged in the development of coffee in the NER since 1970, with a view to providing sustainable income to tribal growers and to wean away the tribal inhabitants from Jhum cultivation.
Tea
Purandeswari also informed that the technical team deputed by the Tea Board in November 2012 to study the techno-commercial feasibility of tea cultivation in Chhattisgarh has reported that large-scale tea cultivation is feasible in some parts of the state.
A request has been received by the government to extend central assistance to the tea farmers in Chhattisgarh and to establish a tea research centre.
The government is considering a proposal for providing subsidy for new tea planting during the Twelfth Five-year Plan, under the Plantation Development. The technical support to the growers is likely to be extended through the field office of the board at Siliguri and the Tea Research Association at Nagarkatta and Bengdubi.
