CM felicitates two tribal coffee-growers

VISAKHAPATNAM: Two tribal coffee growers of the district – Kopuri Chinnammi and Bowda Anasuya – who reached finals of ‘The Flavour of India-Fine Cup Award – 2006’ were felicitated by Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy here today. He presented mementoes and cheques of Rs 25,000 each to them.

The Chief Minister appreciated the efforts made by ITDA project officer Somesh Kumar and assistant director (Horticulture) N Rajendrababu to promote coffee as a sustainable livelihood of tribals.

Coffee samples of the tribal women are among 40 samples shortlisted from 199 samples of reputed corporate bodies and multi-national companies. Final round of the competition will be held in Switzerland on May 17.

According to an official release, coffee cultivation was taken by 32,541 tribal farmers in the purview of ITDA, Paderu, earning about Rs 15,000 per acre. Coffee has transformed the lives of the marginalised communities of agency areas and also addressed the environmental problem caused by deforestation arising from ‘Podu cultivation’.

Coffee is grown by tribals without using any fertilisers and pesticides and bio-fertilisers are used in the form of vermi-compost.