Five coffee varieties get Geographical Induction (GI) tag. Tribal women harvesting organic coffee on a plantation near Girliguda in Araku, Visakhapatnam. The Araku Valley coffee which is processed and marketed with the help of the tribal farmers cooperative society recently won the gold medal for the best coffee pod in the Prix Epicures OR 2018 Award in Paris.
The government on 29 March 2019 said it has awarded Geographical Indication (GI) tag to five varieties of Indian coffee including Coorg Arabica. The move is expected to help the growers get maximum price for their premium produce. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has recently awarded this tag to —
- Coorg Arabica coffee from Karnataka,
- Wayanad Robusta coffee from Kerala,
- Chikmaglur Arabica from Karnataka,
- Araku Valley Arabica from Andhra Pradesh, and
- Bababudangiris Arabica coffee from Karnataka.
The Araku coffee is produced by the tribals, who follow an organic approach in which they emphasise management practices involving substantial use of organic manures, green manuring and organic pest management practices, the ministry said in a statement. Similarly, it said, Bababudangiris Arabica coffee is selectively hand-picked and processed by natural fermentation.
In India, coffee is cultivated in about 4.54 lakh hectare by 3.66 lakh coffee farmers of which 98 per cent are small farmers. Coffee cultivation is mainly done in the southern states of India including Karnataka, which accounts for 54 per cent of the total production. It is followed by Kerala (19 per cent), Tamil Nadu (eight per cent). It is also grown in non-traditional areas such as Andhra Pradesh and Odisha (17.2 per cent) and North East states (1.8 per cent).
A Geographical Indication (GI) is primarily an agricultural, natural or a manufactured product (handicrafts and industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory. Typically, such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness, which is essentially attributable to the place of its origin.
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