Tuesday, April 9, 2013www.deccanherald.com

SpectrumFrom grassroots to galaxies

CIRCLES OF MYSTERYSCIENCE Research says termites are responsiblefor the reddish barren spots, called fairy circles,that dot the desert in Namibia. On P3

POISON THREATENVIRONMENT Poison has emerged as the biggestthreat to tigers in Thailand. Insecticide is beingused as an easy way to kill the iconic animals. P4

Send your comments to: spectrum@deccanherald.co.in or Spectrumc/o Deccan Herald, #75 M G Road, Bangalore-560001

Storm in acoffee cup

Can’t do without your morningcuppa? Needless to say, you havecompany. Statistics substantiatethis too. Coffee is the secondmost traded commodity in the

world after oil. What is not so well knownis that coffee has been grown and con-sumed in India for almost 400 years andhas many other benefits. Apart from con-tributing to biodiversity conservation, cof-fee plantations protect watersheds, gen-erate rural livelihoods and soak upgreenhouse gas emissions. In fact, thereare over one million acres under planta-tion in India, providing employment toover a million workers.

However, the grower or producer of thecupthatcheersgoesthroughhis/hershareof problems, often dictated by the dynam-ics of the market. Apart from marketforces, there are other factors at work aswell. Climate change has made an adverseimpact on coffee cultivation. In fact, theInternational Coffee Organisation consid-ers climate change as the most importantamongseveral factorsthatmayaffectglob-al coffee production, with small holders(who produce most of the world’s coffee)being the most vulnerable group. Coffeeis known to be a very difficult crop requir-ing specific climatic conditions — temper-ature and rainfall conditions being the twomain drivers behind yield. The four majorimpacts of climate change on coffee pro-duction in the short run are the fall in qual-ity of coffee bean; reduction in yield; in-crease in incidence of pests and diseaseand increase in expenditure pertaining toirrigation, fertilisers and pesticides.

In Karnataka, the main issues coffeegrowers face are erratic and variable rain-fall, increasing temperature, degradationin soil quality and greater incidence of pestand disease.

This, in turn, has led to an exponentialrise in cost of cultivation, with farmers be-coming increasingly dependent on fertilis-ers, pesticides and irrigation. On the otherhand, many of the small growers are un-

the heat of climate change. As a result,the CSM, in consultation with Green Ini-tiatives for Smart Tomorrow (GIST) andCoffeeBoard,producedastudycalled‘Cof-fee to Go -The vital role of Coffee towardsecosystem services’, which was launchedattheprestigiousCOP11attheglobalCon-ventionforBiologicalDiversity(CBD)con-ference in Hyderabad in October, 2012 byPavan Sukhdev, lead author of the TEEBreport and UNEP’s goodwill ambassador.

Ray of hopeBut Anand Titus Pereira, who has au-thored a magnum opus on coffee titled‘Shade grown eco-friendly Indian coffee’,has a ray of hope in spite of the adversefactors. Noting that India has been hometo coffee for almost 200 years and has al-ways been and still remains shade grown,he opines that with globalisation and lib-eralisationreachingtheIndianshores, for-est grown Indian coffee is making inroadsin the West as a specialty coffee.

“Coffee grown under the shade of foresttrees has a unique taste,” he said, and at-

able to meet the rising production costsand remain in debt, which further affectstheir capacity to manage coffee cultivationin subsequent years.

Future bleakThe Centre for Social Markets, a Banga-lore-based NGO, which conducted an ex-tensive study on coffee plantations (bothArabica and Robusta varieties) in associ-ationwithKarnatakaGrowers’Federation(KGF) based on primary data from eightsampleestatesofover100acreseach,cho-sen randomly from across the districts ofChikmagalur, Hassan and Kodagu dis-tricts, has come to the conclusion that cli-mate change has made a direct impact oncoffee production, ecosystems and biodi-versity.

The study also revealed that over 60 percent of the labour force of the sample es-tates are women. In addition, coffee agro-forests also act as secondary wildlife habi-tats for foraging and enabling wildlifemovementbetweenprotectedareas,whilesimultaneously helping maintain the flowof soil organic content, prevention of soilerosion and water recharge, in a capacitywhich is second only to that of naturalforests. Speaking to Spectrum, Centre forSocial Markets Chief Executive OfficerViva Kermani said India’s coffee sectorfaces numerous challenges and climatechange is making it to the top of the list ofchallenges, and is arguably the mostdaunting one. Stating that the future forthe coffee producer has become bleak, shesaid one just needs to visit the area to seehow the coffee grower is struggling withunprecedented rise in temperatures, un-seasonal rain, unusual weather patterns,coupled with shortage of labour.

Karnataka Growers’ Federation Presi-dent Pradeep added that the Federationwas trying its best to safeguard the inter-ests of the growers, by encouraging sus-tainable practices.

The 50,000-strong farmers’ organisa-tion head said that the growers too feel

FROM HERE& THERE

GROWTH PANGS A recent study basedon primary data from eight samplecoffee estates, chosen randomly fromacross the districts of Chikmagalur,Hassan and Kodagu districts, hasconcluded that climate change has madea direct impact on coffee production, theecosystem and biodiversity.Ronald Anil Fernandes reports.

INDIANCOFFEE

PLANTATIONSHARBOURSEVERAL SPECIES OFDIVERSE ANDSIGNIFICANTRARE BIRDS,INSECTS ANDENDANGEREDWILDLIFE.

Seeds of progressAs part of the voluntary organisation

Initiatives for Development (IDF)’s‘Sujeevana’ project in Tumkur dis-

trict, efforts are being made to providegood quality seeds to farmers. To meet itsobjective, the organisation has started aseed bank in the region.

This bank has a collection of over 60varieties of native paddy strains, and over30 varieties of ragi. There is a demand forstrains such as ‘Chinnaponni’, ‘Doddi-batha’, ‘Andanur Sanna’, ‘Raichur Sanna’,‘Salem Sanna’, ‘Mutthina Sanna’, ‘GowriSanna’, ‘Ratnachudi’, ‘Rajamudi’, ‘SiddaSanna’and ‘Jade Sanna’. Among ragi vari-eties, there is a demand for ‘Kempu’, ‘Ma-jjige’, ‘Bonda’, ‘Nagamale’, ‘Picchakaddi’,‘Hainu’ and ‘Malali’ strains. Apart fromthese grains, there are seeds of other veg-etables such as ridge gourd, brinjal, etc.

Campaign to collect seedsThe organisation started a ‘Beeja Bhikshe’campaign about two years back in the vil-lages to collect strains that are droughtand pest-resistant. Also, the organisation

AS YOU SOW...(Left) Seeds conserved in pots. (Right) The organisation conductsstudy tours and provides information for farmers.

been grown across 350 acres of land inKunigal and 50 acres in Gubbi taluk,thanks to the SRI method.

Saving resourcesUnder the SRI method, a mere two kg ofseeds are used as against 25 kg under thenormal method. This method also makesweeding easy. The organisation has pro-vided a weeder machine for farmers, sav-ing time and money.

Thanks to the intervention of the or-ganisation, farmersareallworkingtogeth-er, helping each other with resources, ac-cording to farmer Shankarlinge Gowda ofVinayaka Sujeevana Okkuta of Kunigaltaluk. Also for the first time, the SRImethod has been used for sugarcane cul-tivation as well. The organisation has en-couraged farmers to take up organic farm-ing and has helped farmers take up dairyfarming as well, apart from helping themwith other facilities such as insurance,loans, etc, according to the Managing Di-rector of the organisation, Kempe GowdaD B Nagaraj

Rememberinga martyrMainly known for its chilli cultiva-tion, Byadgi taluk is the birthplaceof a forgotten freedom fighter, Ma-hadeva Mailara, who died youngserving the cause of the freedommovement. He participated in theDandi March (salt satyagraha).

He was born in remote Moteben-nur village of Byadgi taluk. Mahade-va Mailara and was the eldest son ofMarthandappa and Basamma.

Mailara who spent the early partof his life (along with his young wifeSiddamma) in Gandhiji’s Sabara-mati Ashram, discontinued his edu-

cation and joined the freedom move-ment.

On April 1, 1943, the members ofTaruna Sangha, led by MahadevaMailara, gathered to hold protestrallies as part of their ‘ChalejavChaluvali’ at the village of Hosarit-thi of Haveri taluk in North Kar-nataka.

When the rally was at its peak, theyouthful and restless freedom fight-ers were ruthlessly beaten up by thepolice force which also, at one stage,opened fire on young protestors.Freedom fighter Mahadeva Mailarawas gunned down at the spot and at-tained martyrdom at the young ageof 32.S V Upendra Charya

tributed this uniqueness to the forest fac-tor and the fact that coffee habitats are anintegral part of multicrops, herbs andspices. Also, Indian coffee plantations har-bour thousands of species of diverse andsignificant species of rare birds, insectsand endangered wildlife. “The amazingfact is that the coffee habitat and naturebring out the best chemistry; sustainingeach other’s needs,” he said.

Regretting the fact that the centuries-old commodity is still not mechanised, andmorethan70percentoftheworkdependson labourers at a time when getting alabourer is a difficult task, the only hope isthe government, which, according to him,can work wonders.

Noting the fact that coffee growers haveneither been included in the ‘industries’categorynor ‘agriculture’category,hesaidcoffee growers do not get the benefits theyought to get. “Of course climate change isa huge cause for concern, but that is notin our hands alone,” he notes.

Including the coffee growers either inthe industries category or agriculture cat-egory would go a long way. If the govern-ment can support the coffee growers in

WHAT’S BREWING?A coffee estate at Kalasa,Chikmagalur district.(DH PHOTO BY RAVI KELANGADI)

(Below) Coffee beans.(DH FILE PHOTO)

terms of latest technology and financialinclusion, perhaps the growers can heavea sigh of relief, as coffee as a beverage hasbeen growing at a rate of 24 per cent peryear, which is perhaps much higher thanany other commodity.

With Indian Robusta considered one ofthe finest in the world and with the mush-rooming of indigenous and internationaloutlets, there is a ray hope, if the stake-holders join hands for a cause.

has chosen select farmers to take up seedproduction,soastoconservethesestrains.Thanks to these moves, good-quality seedsare available at low cost in villages. Theorganisation has started seed banks in ma-jor villages. There are as many as 38 seedbanks in Kunigal taluk and 15 seed banksin Gubbi taluk.The organisation has alsoensured that it provides a platform for

farmers to exchange notes on issues offarming and seed production.

SRI method of farmingThe group has also encouraged farmersto take up paddy cultivation under the Sys-tem of Rice Intensification (SRI). Thismethod saves water, time, seeds and otherresources. A bumper crop of paddy has

■The book, ‘Shade grown eco-friendlyIndian coffee’, is a one-stop answer to allqueries pertaining to coffee.■Right from coffee hotspots to biodiver-sity and soil and water conservation tobio-fertilisers, the volume has answersto all coffee-related queries.■The collection of essays by Anand Ti-tus Pereira and Geeta N Pereira, (bothscientists with over 20 years of fieldexperience) is a reflection of their per-sonal experiences.■It covers diverse areas of a coffee es-tate, such as the ecology and biodiver-sity, recent trends in plant and machin-

ery, the role of water and its manage-ment and the nutrient supply.■Anand, a microbiologist, has takenspecial interest in dealing with themicrobiological aspects of the coffeeforest and the role of microorganismsin enriching the soil for better qualitycoffee, while Geeta N Pereira hasworked on heat stress mechanismsand the physiology that governs thebiochemical constituents of thecoffee bush.■The couple also owns a model coffeefarm in Sakleshpur, on the foothills ofthe Western Ghats.

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

VOLUME ON COFFEE

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

MAJOR CONTRIBUTORThe traditional coffee growing areas ofIndia include Karnataka, Kerala andTamil Nadu with Andhra Pradesh,Odisha and the North-eastern regionconstituting the non-traditional areas.From 1950 to 2012, the total area undercoffee cultivation in India has increasedfrom 92,523 hectares to over 4,09,690hectares, with Karnataka accounting foraround 2,29,658 hectares (56.1 percent) of the total area and 2,26,335 mil-lion tonnes (70.7 per cent) of total na-tional production (Coffee Board, 2012).