India’s Major Crops: Coffee

Coffee is prepared from the roasted seeds called as Coffee beans.  Coffee is grown in more than 70 countries of the world.  Due to Caffeine, it gives stimulating effects.  It originated in Ethiopia and its cultivation expanded from the Arab world to other parts of the world.

About Coffee Plant

Taxonomically, Coffee plant belongs to Rubiaceae family. The plant is an evergreen shrub. The flowers bloom simultaneously and are followed by oval berries of about 1.5 cm. The berries are Green when immature, ripen to yellow and get crimson before they get black on drying. Berries ripen in seven to nine months. Coffee is generally propagated by vegetative methods just to maintain the new strains. Cuttings, grafting, and budding are the usual methods of vegetative propagation. However, Coffee can be grown by seeds as well.  The traditional method of planting coffee is to put 20 seeds in each hole at the beginning of the rainy season, out of which half are eliminated naturally.

• Coffee needs hot and humid climate with temperature varying between 15°C and 28°C. It is generally grown under shady trees.
• Strong sun shine, high temperature above 30°C, frost and snowfall are harmful for coffee cultivation.
• Dry weather is necessary at the time of ripening of berries
• Rainfall between 150 to 250 cm is favourable for coffee cultivation.
• Well drained, rich friable loamy soil with humus and minerals are ideal for coffee cultivation.
• Coffee also needs cheap and skilled labour.

Important Varieties

There are more than 100 species of coffee but only a few are grown commercially. In our country Coffea robusta (or Coffea canephora) and Coffea arabica are grown.

Robusta Coffee

Robusta Coffee or Coffea canephora is mostly grown in Africa and Brazil but also grown in South Asia and South East Asia. On the account of this coffee only, Vietnam has become one of the largest producers and exporter of coffee in the world. Though, it is considered inferior to Coffea arabica, it requires lesser care. It has twice amount of caffeine than Arabica.

Coffea Arabica

Coffea arabica is indigenous to Ethiopia and Arab world. It is also known as Coffee Shrub of Arabia and is believed to be the first variety of Coffee to be cultivated. It naturally contains little caffeine.

Coffea liberica

Coffea liberica is a species that originated in Liberia. The plant grows up to 9 meters and produces larger cherries. Its variety Baraco is a major crop in Philippines.

Coffea charrieriana

Coffea charrieriana is a coffee that is free of caffeine. It is found in Cameroon.

Mocha Coffee

Mocha Coffee or Cafe mocha is derived from Coffea Arabica. This name derived from the Mocha town of Yemen. Yemen was the largest producer and exporter of Mocha Coffee in some 15th and 16th century.

Comparison of Robusta Coffee and Arabica Coffee

Arabica is more popular as a drink in comparison to Robusta mainly because of the taste. Robusta is robust and has almost double the caffeine than Arabica but this higher caffeiene content results in inferior taste.

Around 20-25% of all the coffee produced around the world is Robusta while rest is Arabica; since rest of the varieties grown have negligible production.

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Production Figures

India’s coffee year spans from October to September). The final production of coffee in 2016-17 is as follows:

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Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are India’s largest coffee producing states. India accounts for only 4-5 per cent of the world’s output, but exports 70-80 per cent of its produce. Italy, Russia and Germany are the top three buyers of Indian coffee.  With 4% share in world output, India is ranked 6th in the world. The top five countries are Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia and Ethiopia.

Comparison of Robusta and Arabica Production

The production of Robusta coffee in India is almost double to that of Arabica; while notably both share equal cropped area viz. Robusta 52% and Arabica 48%. Further, while Karnataka and Kerala produce more Robusta; Tamilnadu produces more Arabica. In Kerala, almost all coffee grown in Robusta. In other parts of India such as Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, mostly Arabica Coffee is grown.

Coffee Growers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu shifting from Arabica to Robusta

Every year, the white stem borer pest destroys thousands of tonnes of coffee in Karnataka and some other coffee producing states of India. This has forced many of the arabica growers to go for robusta, which is more resilient to the pest. Further, Robusta requires less shade and labour.

Coffee Board of India

Coffee Board of India is an autonomous body, functioning under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. It was set up under an Act of the Parliament of India in the year 1942. It focuses on research, development, extension, quality upgradation, market information, and the domestic and external promotion of Coffees of India.

Baba Budangiri

Dattagiri or Baba Budangiri  is a mountain in the Dattagiri Hill Range / Baba Budan Giri Range of the Western Ghats in the Chikkamagaluru District of Karnataka. There is a shrine of Baba Budangiri , a place of pilgrimage for both Hindus and Muslims.  Baba Budangiri is known as birth place of Coffee Plantations in India. Legend has it that it is the place where seven coffee beans were planted by one Sufi savant Bababudan in 1670 AD after he “smuggled” the coffee from Yemen. Today it has special place in the multi-billion-dollar Indian coffee industry.