Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday informed that the Indian multi-national company Tata Group has given its nod to market the State's home grown ‘Koraput coffee’ across the globe while keeping the identity of the product intact.
Taking to Twitter, the Odisha CM said, “Tata Group will soon start selling of Koraput Coffee keeping its identity intact. This is a ray of hope for the farmers of the region during COVID-19 pandemic.”
Naveen also lauded the efforts of the farmers for making homegrown coffee a popular name.
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Citing the example of a farmer Sulochana Khara in the role of promoting the local coffee products far and wide, Patnaik tweeted,
“The dedication and commitment of the farmers like Sulochana Khara of Kasampadar village has helped the Koraput coffee to become popular. She has become successful by selling 200 kg coffee to Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation of Orissa Ltd (TDCCOL)."
Notably, the State government has introduced a special plan to ensure livelihood of tribal farmers in Koraput district through coffee farming. By June 2021, the government has provided 46,000 acres of forest land to 30,000 families for coffee farming.
As per a statement by the Odisha Chief Minister's Office, during the year 2020-21, TDCCOL had procured 28,790 kg of coffee cherry from 193 tribal farmers in Laxmipur, Kashipur, Dasmantpur, Nandapur, Lamptaput, Koraput and Potangi blocks in the district.
In 2021-22 financial year, the government aims at producing coffee on 80 hectare land in the district by providing necessary training to the farmers.