Araku coffee from Andhra to make its debut in Paris

Araku Valley of Andhra Pradesh has come up with a unique project under the blessings of four business leaders. It is the outcome of an agri enterprise by the tribal farmers who are growing top-notch quality coffee that is set to make its debut in Paris.
The men behind this project are Anand Mahindra (chairman, Mahindra & Mahindra), Kris Gopalakrishnan (co-founder, Infosys), Satish Reddy (chairman, Dr Reddy's Laboratories) and Rajendra Prasad Maganti (chairman, Soma Enterprise, a construction company).
This will give a boost to the 150-odd tribal communities who live in the Maoist-infested belt.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 20 February 2017.

Coffee cultivation in Araku Valley is not new — the British did it and the government continues to grow the beans under its own brand doing it on a large scale has been done by the tribals only now. From 1,000 acres some years ago, the land under coffee production has gone up to 20,000 acres and the four investors have stepped in to assist them in increasing bean production by roping in global experts.
The Araku coffee will be sold under five variants with the most expensive stock priced around Rs 7,000 a kg. It has already obtained the geographical indication (GI) tag, which authenticates the unique properties a region can offer to a product. The next set of retail stores would come up in New York and Tokyo - obviously, Araku coffee will compete with world famous Columbian and Sumatra coffees.


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A herd of about 25 elephants, led by four tuskers, including five calves, went on a rampage in Khamnipada and five adjoining villages and damaged banana plants, high yield mango seedlings, vegetables and rabi crops.
More than 12 acres of banana plantation grown by tribal farmers on the embankment of Rahul river in Balliguda Forest Division in Odisha's Kandhamal district has been damaged by the marauding elephants.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 12 January 2017.

A total of 24 tribal farmers of Khamnipada village had been given financial assistance to raise banana plants in 32 acres of land. They had planted 32,000 plants in 32 acres on the embankment of Rahul river of which about 12,000 plants and 2000 high yield mango seedlings worth over Rs 5 lakh were destroyed by the jumbos.
The jumbo herd is still on the rampage at Majordhapa reserve forest. The DFO has assured that the extent of loss due to the jumbo menace is being calculated by forest officials and, because the affected villages fall under the natural habitat of elephants, all the affected farmers will be compensated.


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