THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)
(a): Coffee Debt relief Package 2010 (CRDP 2010) was approved by the Government of India in June, 2010 to mitigate the hardship of debt ridden small coffee growers having individual holding upto ten hectares in size. The Package was applicable to all coffee loans with outstanding amounts as on 30th June 2009 and offered waiver of debt to different categories of loans taken by small coffee growers. The implementation of the Package has since been completed. The state-wise details of the amount reimbursed and the number of growers/farmers benefited are as under:
Sl.No. State No. of beneficiaries Amount (Rs.)
1 Karnataka 80,236 2,54,38,14,194
2 Kerala 53,936 36,64,71,560
3 Tamil Nadu 1,100 22,83,1834
4 Odisha 11 1,41,1164
Total 1,35,283 2,93,45,28,752
(b): No such proposal is under consideration at present.
(c): Support for development of organic coffee is one of the components of the Twelfth Plan Scheme of the Coffee Board. Under this component, the coffee growers are encouraged to improve quality and improve access to high value specialty markets through production of eco-certified / organic coffees. The scheme encourages small growers to form groups / collectives and facilitate creation of common facilities for taking up eco-certification / organic certification. Under the scheme individual grower owning up to twenty hectare/ grower groups in Traditional Areas are reimbursed fifty percent of the cost of certification upto a maximum amount of rupees fifty thousand only. Individual grower owning up to twenty hectare and grower groups in Non Traditional Areas and North Eastern Region are allowed reimbursement upto seventy five percent of the certification cost.
(d) & (e): The Coffee Board has conducted a quick survey and assessed the damage caused to coffee plantations in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha after the Hud Hud cyclone. Damage in form of uprooting/fall of shade trees and loss of pepper grown under shade trees is estimated to have taken place in varying degrees in a total area 15,522 hectares in Andhra Pradesh and 663 hectares in Odisha. Total loss of coffee crop in both states is estimated to be 1415 tonnes. The Coffee Board has prepared rehabilitation plan for the damaged areas at a total cost of Rs. 785 lakhs. The coffee development scheme for Twelfth Five Year Plan includes provisions for replanting and gap filling in areas covered by the rehabilitation plan.
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