Coffee is currently grown in only one revenue block in Bastar district, but the state government of Chhattisgarh is intending to expand coffee growing to other districts in the Bastar area, which includes seven Maoist-affected districts in the state.
The state government of Chhattisgarh has chosen to create a “Bastar Café” in New Delhi, Raipur, and other major cities, and is contemplating signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with private enterprises to market the café.
The cafés will be managed on a franchise basis, with the requirement that the term “Bastar” be included in the coffee’s brand name.
Senior authorities have also been ordered to draft a programme to boost coffee and tea growth in the plateau areas of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar and Sarguja divisions.
“We haven’t finalized the project’s overall concept, and we’re still consulting with numerous departments, but ‘Bastar Café’ will undoubtedly become worldwide in the future. Bastar Cafe will primarily serve Bastar coffee, but it will also provide a full range of Bastar cuisine, including ragi cookies, milk shakes, mahua laddus, bar, sitaphal ice cream, and other Chhattisgarhi and tribal fare. Thousands of people work in the coffee industry throughout the state. Bastar Cafe will open in a number of malls across Chhattisgarh, as well as in the country’s major cities “The project’s in-charge, Alok Shukla, is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Rozgar Mission.
Franchises can also be self-help groups, but Shukla stated that other private-sector organizations and start-ups will be encouraged to take them.
Coffee is currently grown in only one revenue block in Bastar district, but the state government of Chhattisgarh is intending to expand coffee growing to other districts in the Bastar area, which includes seven Maoist-affected districts in the state.
We now plant coffee in Bastar’s Darbha area, but we are intending to extend to Sukma and other districts in the near future. Eight quintals of coffee were produced in the first phase, which are currently being used at the Bastar Cafe in Jagdalpur. Every day, this coffeehouse consumes roughly two kg of coffee. At least three additional cafés may be opened to make use of and promote the coffee that is being produced. “A decision has been made to establish such cafes in Raipur and Delhi as well, in order to secure the branding of Bastar Coffee,” stated a project official.
In 2021, he told us, coffee would be planted on 55 acres in the Darbha region of Bastar.
A total of 5,108 acres in Bastar district have been proposed for coffee cultivation, including 1,075 acres in 9 villages of Tokapal block, 1,027 acres in 11 villages of Lohandiguda, 1,445 acres in 14 villages of Bastanar, 460 acres in 7 villages of Bakawand, and 1,101 acres in 13 villages of Darbha block.
The Agriculture College in Jagdalpur has finished preparations for a coffee plantation on 245 acres of land near Darbha, according to officials.
The Coffee Board of Bangalore has agreed to provide 2.50 quintals of certified seeds of the ‘Chandragiri’ type to the horticulture department, which will be used to produce 5 lakh seedlings. The seedlings will be planted throughout a 500-acre region… Similarly, Agriculture College Jagdalpur will grow two lakh seedlings from a quintal of certified seeds provided by the Bangalore Coffee Board. A total of 200 acres will be planted with these seedlings. Every year, a goal has been established to increase the area under coffee growing in the Bastar district by 1000 acres. Nearly 5,820 acres of land would be planted with coffee by 2026, according to the plan “a member of the public relations department said “
KP Singh, a horticulture expert in charge of the “Coffee Project” in Bastar, claims that the climatic conditions in the region are ideal for coffee growth.
“More and more tribes are being encouraged to cultivate in this area, and training is ongoing. We hope that Bastar coffee will become a household name in the near future “Singh said.
Rajat Bansal, the Bastar District Collector, stated that the Bastar Café will bring jobs and tourists to the area.
“Bastar Café has the potential to become a major coffee brand, and we’re working on it.” According to official directives, the district administration is actively attempting to grow coffee plants throughout a 5000-acre region. Tokapal, Lohandiguda, and the district’s Bastanaar revenue block are the next objectives. “The amount of chlorogenic acid, caffeine, and protein, with percentages of 6.02, 0.53, and 11.22, respectively, make Bastar coffee a unique product,” added Bansal.
In terms of crops, the district government hopes to promote coffee as a non-traditional agricultural commodity that will help them transition away from paddy and, in the future, produce coffee tourism, according to the collector.