The Coffee Board in its effort to help small coffee growers of the country has requested for subsidies from the government on labour saving machineries  In a bid to boost small coffee growers, the Coffee Board has proposed the Government of India (GoI) to extend a helping hand by allowing subsidy on labour saving coffee machineries. According to Coffee Board sources, the coffee machineries will not only speed up the process but will also help coffee growers in overcoming labour shortage issues in every harvesting season.
“In India more than 98% coffee growers are small players with a landholding of not more than 5 hectares. Therefore, there is a need of recognisable upgradation of the coffee industry to ensure that even small coffee growers are able to produce the best quality coffee, which is at par with the international standards,” said Anil Kumar Bhandari, a Coffee Board member, in an interview with a FoodProcessing360 correspondent.
Mr Bhandari further added that growers with a landholding of less than 25 acres will only be eligible for the subsidy. “We are requesting GoI for a subsidy of 20%. The financial support will help the small growers in constructing warehouses as well as buying advanced machineries.”
Current scenario
At present, coffee growers receive subsidy on a few equipment from the Agriculture or Horticulture Department. However, these equipment are not coffee specific machineries.
“The small growers are keen on using advanced harvesting machineries. In order to facilitate them to buy such machines, the government needs to provide subsidies to them. The growers would then be able to buy the required equipment and use it themselves, which will help them in addressing the labour shortage issue,” said Shaji Philip, chairman of coffee committee of the United Planters’ Association of Southern India.
Industry insiders also emphasised on the need to alter the mechanisation process as using certain machines become difficult on the undulating terrain of the coffee cultivation areas. Many coffee growers fear that the use of such machines may lead to the damage of arabica branches of the crop.
Facilitating the need the hour, the Coffee Board will very soon organise an exhibition to spread awareness about coffee labour saving machineries and the newest technologies used in the industry. This exhibition will serve as a platform for manufacturers and growers to get a first-hand view of the machines and take a decision on the score.
Shalmoli Kundu |
