Coorg is synonymous with coffee. The majority of the populace of this tiny district owes its sustenance to this little bean. The coffee plant is life-giving, to say the very least. In Coorg, every trader, service provider and individual, whether a proprietor, farmer, landowner or farmhand, has much to thank this bean for.
Conversation at every gathering in Coorg, be it a public gathering, whilst traveling by public transport, private gatherings or wherever else, invariably veers back to prices, yields, farming practices, funding sources, expected harvest and other such ‘coffee talk’.
If the topic is coffee farming, absolute strangers can and will engage in animated conversations about coffee concerns they share. Plans of individual families, be it home-improvements, holidays, children’s education, or weddings, are centered on the expected coffee harvests, coffee being the primary income generator for this district.
Large Coffee Farm in Coorg
Coffee engages and sustains Coorg’s economy. During periods of harvest, farmhands from the neighbouring districts, as also from neighbouring states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu, migrate to work on farms for a brief period of 2-3 months, before returning home with money to show for their hard work. This practice has been in vogue for many decades, and continues to this day.
Paddy was more commonly and extensively cultivated in the villages of Coorg, before coffee became accepted as being equally if not more remunerative.
Whilst Coffee was initially introduced in the Nalaknad region of Coorg around the middle of the 19th century, its spread was aided by the pioneering European planters and large planting companies.
The spread of coffee cultivation in Coorg was greatly aided by the presence of plantation companies such as the erstwhile Consolidated Coffee Ltd. and Tata Coffee Ltd. The Coffee Board of India offered technical as well as funding facilities to the local farmers.
The large companies generously helped their neighbouring farmers, with men, material and technical knowledge during the initial spread of coffee into new areas. Such generosity helped the large companies rally their neighbours to combined community action when there was a need to fight outbreaks of certain pests and diseases in coffee.
Small Coffee Farm in Coorg
Corporate organizations such as Tata Coffee centered in Pollibetta, have provided employment to thousands of the local populace, who have in turn helped the spread of improved farming practices.
Having primarily been paddy cultivators, coffee cultivation has helped farmers augment their income levels, contributing to improved quality of life. Most farming folk are robust and positive by nature, and have made a great success of coffee cultivation.
In almost all farming families, coffee cultivation is a joint enterprise, with the entire family pitching in with their contribution in making their farm a success. Persevering by nature, the people of Coorg are likely to keep their goal of making sure that coffee is available to every person who aspires for his daily fix for a long to time to come.
During years of remunerative prices for coffee, the hustle and bustle within Coorg is usually very loud and shrill, and is very welcome for improved economic activity within the district.
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