SOWING BETTER PRODUCTIVITY WITH IMPROVED COFFEE VARIETIES

India’s Chikmagalur district is the second most productive coffee region in the country. This is in spite of infestations by white stem borers, pests notorious for attacking the stems of arabica plants, leading to huge losses of yields and income for those that depend on coffee for their livelihoods.

As a result, growers have been gradually shifting from arabica varieties to more resilient, but slower ripening and less lucrative Robustas. In the interest of supporting the productivity and profitability of our growers, one solution is to supply them with good quality, disease-resistant arabica seedlings. Last year, 15,000 Selection 9 and Chandragiri saplings were distributed to planters for free across five estates. These relatively new varieties currently cover less than 10% of the area, yet they secure some of the highest cupping scores of any Indian coffees: 84 - 85
for washed and 86+ for naturals or micro-lots, which translates into a 5% increase in income for farmers over a standard robusta.

Coupled with farmer training on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and post-harvest processing methods, these new varieties are expected to increase growers’ yields by 5-10%.

"Due to stem borer attack every year, we have had to remove many coffee plants from the estate and with the help of Olam we were able to fill the gaps.” Mr Nageshwar Rao, South Indian Tea and Coffee Co. Ltd , Chikmagalur.

As part of ongoing efforts to support growers, they will also receive coffee cupping training to allow them to identify the quality needed to secure the best price. In addition, shade nets and raised drying beds will also be provided on all estates in our sourcing network to further elevate the quality of coffee and with it, the livelihoods of the growers. The impact of these activities are being tracked through the economic metrics of AtSource.