CHAPETRIZATION

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I

ABOUT THE VILLAGE

 Brief history of Thandikudi

 Thandikudi Location

 Climate

 Ancient Trade Routes From Thandikudi

CHAPTER II

INDIAN COFFEE AND COFFEE BOARD

 Introduction on Indian Coffee

 Coffee board and its role

 Research and coffee board

 Functions of the board

 Promotes coffee exportation

 Domestic Awareness

CHAPTER III

CULTIVATION AND ITS MECHANISM FOLLOWED IN THE REGION

  Current coffee proportion at lower Palani Hills

 Mixed farming

 Biotechnological approach

 Mechanization and recent development

 Additional crops cultivated in the region

CHAPTER IV

CONTRIBUTION OF RCRS THANDIKUDI

 Brief note on RCRS

 Research Programmes

 Important programmes and Achievements

 Advisory Committee

CHAPTER V

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT COFFEE

 Some different ways that coffee is drunk throughout the world

CONCLUSION
 CONTENT

S.NO TITLE PG NO
1. Introduction 1
2. About the village 2
3. Indian coffee and coffee board 5
4. Cultivation and its mechanism followed in the 10

region
5. Contribution of RCRS Thandikudi 17
6. Interesting facts about coffee 22
7. Conclusion 23
8. Appendix 24
9. Bibliography 31
 A STUDY ON COFFEE CULTIVATION AT LOWER PALANI

HILL REGIONS WITH SPECIAL REFFERNCE TO

THANDIKUDI

INTRODUCTION:

The history of Coffee in India goes back around 1600AD, when the Indaian

Sufi saint, Bababudan went on a pilgrimage to Mecca. During his journey,

Bababudan discovered coffee in the form of a dark and sweet liquid, then he found

it was refreshing, so that he secretly brought seven coffee seeds. Thus the coffee

spreaded in SouthIndia. He planted the seven coffee seeds in his courtyard

Chikmagalur, Karnataka, the birthplace and origin of coffee in India.

Coffee cultivation grew and thrived in India during british rule. The organized

research in coffee was initiated during 1925. This work focusses the history of

Regional Research Coffee Station, Thandikudi, Dindigul district, Tamilnadu and

its contribution in promoting the coffee yielding throughout the years. It was

established in 1987 at Thandikudi, Dindigul district to address the region specific

problems in coffee growing. Coffee cultivation is losing its charm in present days.

This work enumerates the coffee slope and benefits to the government and people

by coffee cultivation. The article in the Hindhu by the deputy direction of coffee

board Dr. K. Sreedharan mentioned that Regional Coffee Research Station,

Thandikudi has identified a few high yielding varities such as selection 5B,

selection 9 and chanragiri1 which suited to this region. This work undergoes the

descriptive method to elucidate the story and Regional Coffee Research Station,

Thandikudi. This work also undergoes the social and economic perspective of the

coffee board. The interviews of the officers, articles published by the scholars and

the book published by coffee board will be taken as the primary and secondary

sources respectively.

OBJECTIVES:

 To know the history of coffee cultivation &coffee

 To Collect the Statistical data of the cultivation &Exportation
 To Study the circumstances of the coffe planters
 To Study the Advanced Methodologies used for the cultivation
 To Know the other Supporting crops in the region

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

 The main scope this study will focus on the circumstances and the standard of

the coffee plantation at in lower plain hill region especially at THANDIKUDI

METHODOLOGY:

1
Selction 5B, selection 9, Chandragiri – name of coffee varities
 The Methodology used here it both descriptive and analytical methods.The

interview sources are useful to know the contemporary records and Standards of

the coffee Plantation

SOURCES:

 This work has been done by taking interviews or Primary Sources and

Books,Articles,Sources,Magazines and web

AIM:

The aim is to project regarding the Research programme undertaken by the coffee

board Govt. of INDIA and to promote the Standard of South Indian Coffee

Cultation .

CHAPTER I

ABOUT THE VILLAGE

Brief history on Thandikudi:

 Thandikudi is the one of the most beautiful village in Kodaikanal taluk in

Dindigul District, Tamilnadu. It is situated at an altitude of 1,500 meters above sea

level, at the longitude of 77.64 and latitude of 10.31. It is also called trekker's

paradise and "Aadha Kodai" (half Kodaikanal!).

The place is famous for Murugan Temple, Coffee Plantations, Pre-Iron Age

Burials, Pure Honey, Deep Forest Trekking and abundance of medicinal plants.

Some places of interest here are Murugan Temple, Kariyamal Temple, Kadavu

Malai, Maayandi Temple, Sangu Parai view point, Ponnu-Mapillai Hill, Doll

Man’s Cave, Kattel Kasam Water Falls and Echo Rock etc.

One can notice a marvelous change in flora and fauna, as one goes from

Vathalakundu to Thandikudi. The establishment of numerous coffee estates made

Thandikudi famous. Lofty mountains, dense forest and miles and miles of coffee

plantations greet the passengers on most routes. There are two common beliefs

that are prevalent for the village Name “Thandikudi”.

One is the belief that the residents of Thandikudi told to their generations. Such

as after the fight with asuran Idumban Lord Muruga jumped over the hill to reach

Palani and hence the name of the place was called “Thandi-Kuthi2” and later

became as “Thandi-Kudi”.

2
Thandikuthi - Older version of the name of the place
 Another one is based on the archaeological survey done by Department of

Epigraphy and Archaeology, Tamil University, Thanjavur. According to Dr Rajan,

Head of Dept of Epigraphy and Archaeology, Tamil University, Thanjavur,

“Thandikudi, about 47 km northeast of Vattalagundu in lower Palani hills, was

associated with Sangam Age chieftains named Tondrikon and Kodaiporunan”.

The Kulasekhara Pandya inscription issued during the 12th regnal year (1280

AD) records this village as Tanrikudi. "Tanri" is a variety of tree (termenalia

bellarica) famous for its medicinal value and found in abundance in this region.

"Kudi" means a clan based settlement. The present name Thandikudi is derived

from Tandrikudi. "Archaeological vestiges suggest that the site lies in a perfect

ecological background, which helped to occupy continuously for more than 3,500

years."

The serene location of Thandikudi had remained an important archaeological

site since megalithic times.

We would also hop into Dolman’s Cave and Ponnu-Mappillai Rock and a water

falls which are special attractions of this hidden hills. The story of Ponnu-

Mappillai Rock goes like this … a couple who got married in plains and started

walking through the dense forest to Thandikudi… legend has it that they got frozen

into the massive rock structures resembling a couple.

Thandikudi location:

Taluk Name : Kodaikanal

District : Dindigul

State : Tamil Nadu

Language : Tamil

Time zone: IST (UTC+5:30)

Elevation / Altitude: 296 meters. Above Seal level

Telephone Code / Std Code: 04542

Pin Code : 624216

Post Office Name : Tandigudi

Climate of the region:

The climate is pleasant most of the year with a minimum temperature of 19 C

and maximum of 26 C in summer, and min 13 and max 16 in winter.

Ancient trade routes from Thandikudi:

Thandikudi (10°18’25”N; 77°38’40”E), one of the major villages on lower

Palani hills is situated about 44 km north-east of Vatalakundu in Kodaikanal taluka

of Dindugal district, Tamil Nadu. It lies at the height of 1300 m above MSL and

surrounded on four sides by two hills namely Kathavumalai and Arunganalmalai.

All the down streams originating from the surrounding hills flows as a small rivulet

namely Periyar Odai3 to the south of this village. This Odai joins with the major

river Marudanati near Chinnakudalankadu.

This village is well connected by the major traditional trade routes. One of the

trade routes connects Musiri on the West Coast and Madurai in the hinterland

passes through Pollachi, Palani, Dindugal and Madurai. The villages Palamalai,

Perumalmalai, Machchur, Pannaikadu, Thandikudi and Kadavumalai are situated

along this ancient trade route.

CHAPTER II

INDIAN COFFEE AND COFFE BOARD

Introduction on Indian coffee:

In India, coffee is traditionally grown in the Western Ghats spread over

Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Coffee cultivation is also being expanding

rapidly in the nontraditional areas of AP and Odisha as well as in the North East

states. Coffee is predominantly an export oriented commodity and 65% to 70% of

coffee produced in the country is exported while the rest is consumed within the

country. Indian coffee industry earns a foreign exchange to the tune of about

Rs.4000 Crores. Indian coffee has created a niche for itself in the international
3
Odai means rivulet
market and the Indian Coffees are earning high premium, particularly Indian

Robusta which is highly preferred for its good blending quality. Arabica Coffee

from India is also well received in the international market. Coffee is an export

product with low import intensity and high employment content. This is evident

from the fact that more than six lakh persons are directly employed and an equal

numbers of individuals get indirect employment from this sector.

The two main varieties of coffee viz., Arabica and Robusta are grown in India.

Arabica is mild coffee, but the beans being more aromatic, it has higher market

value compared to Robusta beans. On the other hand Robusta has more strength

and is, therefore, used in making various blends. Arabica is grown in higher

altitudes than Robusta. The cool and equable temperature, ranging between 15

degree Celsius to 25 degree Celsius, is suitable for Arabica while for Robusta, hot

and humid climate with temperature ranging from 20 degree Celsius to 30 degree

Celsius is suitable. Arabica requires more care & nurture and is more suitable for

large holdings whereas Robusta is suitable irrespective of size of the farm. The

harvest of Arabica takes place between November to January, while for Robusta it

is December to February. Arabica is susceptible to pests & diseases such as White

Stem Borer, leaf rust etc., and requires more shade than Robusta.

Coffee board and its role:

 After pooling was discontinued in 1996, Coffee Board serves as the friend,

philosopher and guide to the Coffee sector covering the entire value chain. The

core activities are primarily directed towards research & development, transfer of

technology, quality improvement, extending development support to growing

sector, promotion of coffee in export and domestic markets. The activities of the

Board are broadly aimed at (i) enhancement of production, productivity & quality;

(ii) export promotion for achieving higher value returns for Indian Coffee and (iii)

supporting development of Domestic market.4

Research and coffee board:

Organized research in coffee was initiated during 1925 by the erstwhile Mysore

Government by setting up the Mysore Coffee Experiment Station near Balehonnur

in Chikmagalur district. After formation of the Board the research station was

brought under its administrative control. Presently the Research Department of the

Board with its headquarters at the Central Coffee Research Institute and five

regional stations has a sanctioned strength of 113 scientific personnel and is

involved in development of improved varieties with tolerance to major pests and

diseases and standardization of technology for improving production, productivity

and quality.

4
https://www.indiacoffee.org
Functions of the board:

During 1940’s, the coffee industry in India was in a desperate state due to the II

World war resulting in very low prices and ravages of pests and diseases. At this

time, the Government of India established the ‘Coffee Board’ through a

constitutional act “Coffee Act VII of 1942” under the administrative control of

Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The Board comprises 33 members including

the Chairman and the Secretary & Chief Executive Officer. The remaining 31

members represent the various interests such as coffee growing industry, coffee

trade interests, curing establishments, interests of labour and consumers,

representatives of governments of the principal coffee growing states, and

Members of Parliament.

Statutory Committees

The Board functions through six statutory committees which are appointed for one

year term each and the functions of each committee as per the Coffee Act are:

1. Executive Committee

Deals with functions specifically assigned to it under the Coffee Rules. In addition

to that deals with matters not specifically assigned to the Propaganda, Marketing,

Research, or any other committees constituted by the Board.

2. Propaganda Committee

Deals with matters relating to promotion of sale and increasing the consumption in

India and elsewhere of the coffee produced in India.

3. Marketing Committee

Deals with coffee marketing scheme as set forth in the Act and Rules.

4. Research Committee

Deals with promotion of agricultural and technological research in the interest of

the coffee industry in India.

5. Development Committee

Deals with the measures that may be undertaken for the development of coffee

estates.

6. Quality Committee

Deals with all issues relating to the improvement in the quality of coffee produced

in India.
7. Non-Statutory Committees

The Board also had one non-statutory committee viz., Audit Committee as detailed

below:

8. Audit Committee

Deals with the matters relating to Annual Accounts and also study

Promotes coffee exportation:

After liberalization in 1996, the marketing functions were deregulated. The

exports are carried out by the Exporters. Hence the Coffee Board plays the role of

facilitator and promoter of Indian coffee exports. However, registration of

exporters is the responsibility of the Coffee Board. The total number of registered

coffee exporters are about 395. Further, the Board issues, under the Section 20 of

the Coffee Act, 1942, Permits for Export of Indian Coffee. Additionally, the

Certificates of Origin are also issued as per the provisions of the International

Coffee Agreement.

Under Export Promotion scheme, exports of Value added coffees in retail packs

and export of coffee to high value far-off destinations are incentivized to offset the

transaction costs to some extent and enable the Indian exporters to be competitive

in the export market. These incentives provide opportunities to expand the

footprint of Indian Coffee in higher value destinations like USA, Japan, Canada,

Australia, New Zealand etc on one hand and reinforcing presence in our traditional

markets i.e., European Union/ Russia and CIS etc. Besides, the Board regularly

participates in the major coffee trade shows/ exhibitions held in major consuming

countries to promote awareness about quality of Indian coffee to the overseas

roasters, traders and consumers. The Board also conducts Flavour of India- The

Fine Cup competitions to select fine coffees and expose them to export market.

Domestic awareness:

The Department promotes coffee consumption in the country through 12 India

Coffee Houses located in major cities across the country. Besides, the department

participates in the national level exhibitions & trade fairs to create awareness about

the Indian coffee among the consumers and educates the consumers about positive

effects of coffee consumption on human health.

CHAPTER III

CULTIVATION AND ITS MECHANISMS FOLLOWED IN THE REGION

Current coffee proportion at lower Palani hills:

The long impact of insufficient and inefficient planning\programming of coffee

farm operations has had a ‘Bonsai’5 impact on coffee bushes in many coffee farms
5
S.K. Soundarapandian, coffee in pulneys: is it still an economically viable proposition?, art., 2012
in Palani today. Because of this, there is a stagnation/decline in coffee productivity

in spite of carrying out fairly regular farm operations. The inadequacy or lack of

knowledge of coffee farm operations on the part of available labor is also not

helping the growers to improve the overall outlook of coffee farms. The main

concern or worry of the hardcore coffee growers in Palani today is how to get

adequate workforce to employ in coffee farms and how to carry out the important

farm operations in time. The lack of adequate infrastructure with respect to

education, health and even entertainment in the hilly tract is acting as a major

deterrent to attract workers to stay in the plantation tract. Absentee land lordism

and armchair farming approaches are also not helping a wee bit to improve the

coffee production of Palani region.

Mixed farming:

One of the most gifted aspects of the Palani is that, apart from coffee, several

promising cash crops can be grown successfully in this tract. Added to that, coffee

is such an accommodative crop that, it can co-exist wonderfully with many

intercrops like banana, orange, citron, pepper, avacoda (butter fruit), papaya, and

even chow chow.6 A judiciously planned mixture of these crops with coffee as the

main stay could augment the overall farm income in a big way. However, one big
6
Interview with M.Pandian, age 52, planter, at Thandikudi, on October 3 2019
‘rider’ in this endeavor is, how to lure the required workforce to work in farms

especially in the context that, the Central Government is providing easy money or

employment to unskilled workers for a minimum of hundred days per year through

RGNREG scheme. Perhaps, the grower bodies and the policy makers could sit

together and work out an amicable plan so as to induce the available unskilled

labor to works in plantations. The state Government should also help in

developing required infrastructure especially in the areas of education, health and

sanitation in the Palani plantation area so that the workforce will be attracted to

work in estates and stay in the hills. The growers also should give serious thought

to employ residential labor by providing attractive basic amenities and taking care

of their minimum needs.

Biotechnological approach:

Coffee is one of the most important plantation and commercial crops grown in

tropical region. Genetic manipulation to improve coffee is very much essential

since it is a perennial tree; conventional breeding is taking long time and also

difficult. For overcoming this, interest has turned to biotechnological approaches

for improvement of coffee. Although, coffee is a perennial crop, somatic embryos

can be induce from variety of tissues at high frequency. These developments

permit further for improvement through genetic engineering. There is a significant

progress made on coffee biotechnology which includes micro propagation for

multiplication of elite materials, hybrid embryo culture, DNA fingerprinting,

genetic transformation and germ plasm preservation. Tremendous progress has

been made in plant transformation and genetically modified plants have been

produced in a number of species. Perhaps, molecular genetics suggest that it may

be possible to make specific alteration in crop plants at genetic level, thus allowing

for incremental improvement of commercial varieties. Progress made so far in

coffee biotechnology indicates that the technology is suitable for genetic

improvement. This can be integrated with conventional breeding to achieve

improvement in specific agronomic processing and quality characteristics. The

progress made on coffee biotechnological research is summarized here.

Coffee tissue culture method offers a reliable method for production of a large

number of ture-to-type propagules. The most commonly employed tissue culture

propagation method is the micropropagation. Micropropagation of a high value

perennial species like coffea can be an efficient method of propagating individual

trees from segregating populations. Large scale micropropagation could be used to

establish new plantations of segregating hybrids that carry disease resistant genes.

Development of genetic transformation techniques is very important for genetic

improvement of C. arabica and C. canephora.7 Studies were conducted on genetic

transformation and the salient achievemants include identification of suitable

7
Coffee varieties which have been genetically modified
marker gene and selective agent, identification of suitable antibiotics and duration

of application for eliminating the Agrobacterium after transformation.

Mechanization and recent developments:

Mechanization in coffee production is relatively a new concept, but can be

critical to successful and efficient production. The challenge is to combine

mechanization with traditional growing methods that have endued for centuries.

Coffee in India is invariably grown in hilly undulated terrain, with gentle to steep

slopes under mixed shade canopy. Use of machineries in these situations is found

to be difficult and sometimes even dangerous. As a result, the farm operations had

to be carried out manually spending long hours to complete the operations such as

weeding, pit digging, spraying, harvesting etc., statistics shows that among the

plantation crops, coffee is one of the most labor intensive crops after tea in India.

The annual requirement of labor for undertaking regular cultural operations is

about 456 per ha in case of Arabica and 266 per ha in case of un-irrigated robusta

and 326 per ha in case of irrigated robusta coffee. The cost of labor alone

constitutes about 70 percent of the total cultivation costs in case of Arabica and

about 59 to 65percent in case of Robusta coffee.

 Machineries used in coffee plantations in olden days were sprayers, sprinklers,

pump set for irrigation, pulpers for wet processing of coffee, tractors etc., but these

machineries did not contribute directly to reduce the drudgery and improve the

efficiency of laborers and completing the farm operations on time. In recent years,

labor shortage in plantation areas have been acute due to migration of workers to

urban areas in search of easy and better living. The permanent workers employed

in the farm are getting aged and retiring, aggravating the labor shortage to carry out

farm operations. Besides, existing coffee cultivation practices in Indian system

such as in steep slopes and presence of shade trees, use of big machineries is ruled

out. Hence, initially efforts were made to introduce small hand operated machines

to carry our field operations such as pit digging for planting coffee seedlings,

weeding and harvesting and their suitability of use in sloppy terrains of coffee

estates in terms of improving efficiency of farm operations, cost reduction and

reducing drudgery of human labor was evaluated. The evaluated machines were

either developed by the National institutions under collaborative programmes or

the imported ones available in the market. Among all the cultural operations in

coffee plantation weed control and pit digging operations are highly labor intensive

and involves high cost. With this background, two types of weed cutters and pit

digger were evaluated. The results were highly encouraging by saving fifty

percent in terms of labour requirement and cost borne over manually.

 In coffee, harvesting is a time bound operation and requires 30 – 40 percent of

the labor and incurs about 60 percent of the total cost production. Use of hand

held, battery operated harvesting machines was found to be efficient by 17 and 36

percent over manual harvesting of arabica and robusta respectively.8

Mechanization of farm operations in coffee estates of the country is the need of

the hour. Long term strategies and programmes for mechanization of coffee

cultivation by systematic planning with modified planting designs considering the

slope and topography is of prime importance to achieve maximum advantage of

mechanization. This could be achieved easily in the newly planted or replanted

area but not in exiting square system of planting prevailing in the estates. To adopt

mechanization in the existing coffee plantation, some coffee bushes may have to be

removed to create working row or narrow farm path while shade trees need not be

removed and the contour paths can be laid around the shade tree trunk in case of

interference for turning machineries between the narrow, farm paths. Specially

designed, imported machines like walk behind track type machines having crawler

treads rather than wheels which re presently available in the Indian market can be

successfully used in such paths for spraying, fertilizer applications compared to the

existing large plots and are more beneficial.

8
M. violet D’Souza, Mechanization – A recent development in coffee plantations art., 2012
 For blocks which are being planted newly or replanted freshly, construction of

new farm paths for moving small machines has to be attend initially. The farm

paths have to be planned through proper land shaping and it is a simple technology

which is based on the slope contour or terrace farming practiced. Contour farming

is the technique of growing crops on the level across or perpendicular to a slope

rather than up and down the slope. The rows running across the slope are designed

to be as possible to facilitate planting operations on the contour. Contour farming

is most effective on slopes between 2 and 10 percent. Contour farming is not well

suited to rolling topography having a higher slope with maximum irregularity.

Terraces are practiced in steep slopes where in this system, steep slope is cut

into small strips called terraces. They are created by cut and fill method where soil

from the slope surface is removed to create a flat land. On the contour and terrace

the coffee plants are planted by adopting suitable planting design such as paired

row, hedge row and triangle method. This system of planting creates working

space to carry out operations through machines.

Additional crops cultivated in the region:

Under the lower Palani hills condition, coffee is cultivated as a primary crop

with some additional crops. Along with coffee, cash crops such as black pepper,

banana, orange9 etc. are grown as inter crop. However, coffee and pepper on
9
Additional crops growing in lower Palani hills
silver oak and jack widely encounterd in this region. Cardamom and vanilla are

other spice crops grown in lower Palani hills.

Cultivation of black pepper as mixed crop in coffee either on Silver oak or

Dadaps10 provides congenial microclimate for the growth of coffee as well as black

pepper. Crop diversification in the plantations with compatible crops is

advantageous in terms of improving and sustaining income from the available land

holdings. Cultivation of pepper in coffee as a mixed crop adopting scientific

cultivation practices would help in increasing the production without involvement

of additional areas and also help to earn remunerative returns to farmers. Black

pepper and small cardamom are the two spice crops widely cultivated in lower

Palani hills as either as an inter crop or as mono crop. The scientific cultivation

practices of these crops are described.

Black pepper is one of the ancient and traditional crops of India, popularly

known as “king of spices” and also referred as “black gold”. Black pepper is a

plan to humid tropics and requires adequate rainfall and humidity. It is a perennial

climber, endemic to the tropical evergreen forests of the Western Ghats of India.

Black pepper is quite unique in its requirements with regard to soil conditions,

elevation, shade requirements adaptability etc. A well distributed rainfall of 125 to

280 cm is ideal for its cultivation. Though it tolerates a minimum of 10 degree

10
Other name for oak tree
Celsius and a maximum of 40 degree Celsius and the optimum temperature is 20 –

30 degree Celsius. It comes up will in a variety of soil with pH ranging from 4.5 to

6.5. pepper grows best at an elevation below 1200m above MSL.11 In order to

exploit the potential yield and other desirable attributes, the varieties are to be

subjected to the specific conditions. For instance the first black pepper hybrid,

pannniyur 1 through suited to all pepper grown areas however unsuitable for

heavily shaded areas and high elevations. Panniyur 3, hybrid pepper suited to all

pepper grown areas but prefers open conditions. The variety, panniyur – 6 is

drought tolerant and varities like panniyur 4 and 7 tolerate adverse climatic

conditions. IISR12 – Malabar Excel variety is suitable for plains and higher

elevations whereas the variety, IISR Girimunda13 is unique for its superior

performance at higher elevations. The variety, panniyur 5 is quite versatile,

suitable for mono cropping as well as mixed cropping in coconut. Evaluation of

eight released black per varieties at Thadiankudisai, lower Palani hills revealed that

the variety Pournami has given the highest yield. Selection of the variety for

commercial cultivation is very important and in less shaded areas, Panniyur 1 or

any other suitable varities may be preffered.

11
MSL – Moisture Sensitivity Level
12
IISR – Indian Institute of Spices Research
13
A unique kind of pepper
 Cardamom , the queen of spices is cultivated in the tropical evergreen forests of

Western Ghats in India covering Kerala, Karnataka and Tamilnadu. Conservation

of evergreen forests is very essential to preserve nature and climate in the

cardamom eco system, in Lower Palani hills, cardamom is also cultivated along

with coffee and pepper. The adoption of technologies developed for sustainable

cardamom production is the only option aiming at maximizing production and

productivity.

Cardamom has originated in the tropical evergreen forests of western ghats and

the farmers are the custodians of the natural genetic variability of the crop.

Cardamom clones are location specific in performance. In Lower Palani hills,

varieties belonging to Malabar cultivar may be prefered. The crop improvement

programmes were undertaken on cardamom at various research centres have

resulted in the isolation and release of a few high yielding varieties having superior

quality capsules. These varieties are to be tested at lower Palani hills conditons for

recommending to commercial cultivation. The farmer developed variety; Nijallani

Green Gold is also cultivated by elite farmers in hills and found remunerative.

CHAPTER IV

CONTRIBUTION OF RCRS THANDIKUDI

Brief note on RCRS Thandikudi:

 The village Thandikudi is situate at an altitude of 1500 mtrs above MSL with a

longitude of 77.64 and latitude of 10.31. It is distance of 47kms from

Batalagundu, 40 kms from Kodaikanal and 70kms from Dindigul.

The history of the place dates back to 13th century. The Kulasekhara Pandya

inscription issued in 1280 AD records this village as “Thandrikudi”. The clan

chieftains who ruled the region were called as :Thandrikons”.14 Tandri is a variety

of tree known for its medical value and found in abundance in this region. Kudi

means clan based settlement. Hence, the name Thandrikudi or Thandigudi at

present.

The weather in the region is genrally pleasant with the day temperature ranging

between 20 degree Celsius to 28 degree Celsius and night temperature of around

15 degree Celsius to 21 degree Celsius all through the year. The average annual

rain fall is around 1000mm to 1500mm. the major part of rain fall is received

during the North-East monsoon period of October to December. The weather and

rain fall were found suitable for cultivation of coffee. The British started

cultivating coffee in the region during 19th century with hill banana and black

pepper as associate crops.

The coffee board established Coffee Demonstration Farm at Perumparai in

1950. The RCRS(Regional Coffee Research Station) , Thandigudi was set up in

14
Interview with P.Murugan, age 40, planter, at Thandikudi, on October 3 2019.
1987 so as to address the location specific problems of coffee growers of

Tamilnadu – spread in Nilgiris, Valparai, Palani, Sirumalai, Shevaroys, Kolli hills

and Bodinaykannur areas.

RCRS, Thandikudi is having total area of 13.44 Ha of which planted area is

6.46 Ha with Arabica sln. of Coffee is utilized for roads, office, laboratories and

residential quarters, drying yard godown etc. RCRS Thandikudi is having Deputy

Director as the station head and following divisons.

 Plant breeding

 Agricultural chemistry

 Entomology

 Pathology

 Agronomy

 Farm selection

 Establishment selection

Research programmes:

As the agro-climatic conditions in most of the coffee growing areas of Tamil

Nadu are significantly different from that prevailing in Karnataka or Kerala mainly

due to the prevalence of North East Monsoon rains in these areas. Therefore, there

are lot of differences in the timings of adopting various cultural operations in

coffee areas in Tamil Nadu when compare to that in Karnataka or Kerala. Keeping

this in view, the research priorities of this station were identified as given below:

i. Evaluation of CCRI Station selections under North East Monsoon

conditions for yield and growth parameters.

ii. Established a soil testing laboratory to standardization of nutrients

inputs and also analyzed the purity percentage agricultural imputes

(lime).

iii. Development of integrated strategy for management of pests and

diseases.

iv. Generation of location specific technology and practices for higher

productivity.

v. Formulation of suitable coffee based mixed farming.

vi. Demonstration of scientific method of coffee growers in association

with the Extension Network and other development agencies.

Important Programmes and achievements:

In view of the research priorities identified, various programmes were taken up

and the important programmes and notable achievements made so far are outlined

below:
  Successful management of coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei,15

an introduced pest

 Development of Bearveria bassiana as an effective biopesticide against

the coffee berry borer. Effective strains of B. bassiana were isolated

and standardized the protocol of preparation of the product and

application. The use of B. bassiana has brought down the berry and

application. The use of this has brought down the berry borer

incidence to very low levels thereby reducing the use of chemical

pesticides to a good extent.

 Successful implementation of biocontrol programme against berry

borer using an exotic parasitoid. The mass breeding and large scale

field releases of the exotic parasitoid, Cephalonomia stephanoderis of

coffee berry borer has resulted in the establishment of the parasitoid in

the Lower Palani hill area. The parasitoid could be recovered from the

release and non release sites after over 5years of release which

indicates the successful establishment and spread of the parasitoid.

Evidently, this also contributed in the management of the pest in Lower

Palani Hills.

 Maintaining all the 35 rust differentials including “A” type plants in the

poly house, field and net house for continuous monitoring

15
Interview with Dr. Soundara Rajan, age 40, pathologist (scientist) RCRS, at Thandikudi, on October 3 2019.
  Evaluation of newer selections for leaf rust incidence

 The scientists regularly participate in training programmes and

seminars/workshops on different aspects of coffee cultivation to the

coffee growers, estate workers, field supervisors and management staff

in association with the Coffee Board Extention Wing and other

agencies like TNAU, Spices Board, Planters Associations, SHGetc.,

Advisory Committee:

The continued co-operation of the local coffee planting community in all the

activities of the RCRS is a unique feature of Palani hills. This is quite evident

from the fact that of all the Regional Advisory Committees (RAC) formed with an

objective to ensure the involvement of local planting community in planning and

implementing various programmes of the Research Station, only that of

representatives of growers associations and the Head of nearby Research Station.

the committee also actively involves in organizing functions like Field Days,

meetings, workshops etc, and the Silver Jubilee Field Day was also celebrated with

the full support and involvement of the RAC members as well as other planters in

this region.

CHAPTER V

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT COFFEE

 Some of the worlds most powerful business, including Lloyds of London

and the NewYork Stock Exchange, started life as a coffee houses.

 Pope Clement VIII loved coffee and authorized its use.

 Revolutions have been planned in coffee houses, namely the French and

the the American Revolutions.

 There are 900 different flavors of arabica. Complex and very volatile,

they deteriorate if exposed to air and light.

 The aromas in coffee develop at the 10 the minute of roasting.

 Coffee increases in volume during roasting by 18.60%.

 In December 2001 Brazil produced a scented postage stamp to promote

its coffee the smell should last between 3 and 5 years.

 Brewed espresso has 2.5% fat, while filtered coffee contains 0.6% fat.

 The first webcam was invented at The University of Cambridge to let

people know if the coffee pot was full or not.

 Coffee is the second most widely used product in the world after oil.

 Coffee is consumed at the rate of 1400 million cups per day.

 Coffee is the the world’s second most popular drink after water.
Some different ways that coffee is drank throughout the world:

 The Italians: the unrivaled masters of espresso, drink theirs with sugar.

 The Germans: prefer their coffee with equal parts of hot chocolate.

 The Swiss: like to add hot chocolate to theirs as well

 The Belgians: prefer copious amounts of hot chocolate in theirs.

 The Austrians: love rich and fluffy, whipped cream in their coffee.

 The Mexicans: like to add cinnamon to their coffee.

 The Moroccans: enjoy their coffee with crushed peppercorns.

 The Ethiopians: just love to add a pinch of sea salt to their coffee.

 The Egyptians: drink only the purest and strongest coffee available/

 The Bedouins: serve their coffee with ginger of cardamom

 Coffee drinkers in the middle east add cardamom to their coffee.

CONCLUSION:

This work has focussd the cultivation of the people on lower palani hills

especially the Thandikudi region. The social and economic standard of the people

were studied and analysed. The people are still maintaining the ecosystem very

well at their regions. And the charm of Indian coffee is getting reduced because of

the lack of agro knowledge related coffee cultivation. In order to overcome this the

Regional Coffee Research Station is undertaking various measures and they were
being a helping hands for the farmers. In order to promote Indian coffee among

the world countries the awareness regarding the coffee cultivation and new

methodologies in farming must be followed by the farmers. Next to petroleum the

coffee sector is deciding the turnover of our nation. So it is vital to focus on its

development and promotion.

APPENDIX:
COFFEE PLANT
COFFEE SEED
ARABICA VARIETY COFFEE SEED
PEPPER
REGIONAL COFFEE RESEARCH STATION – THANDIGUDI
VARITIES PLANTED IN THANDIKUDI
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Primary sources:

 Interview with Dr.Babu,age 38, Deputy Director of RCRS – Thandikudi, at

Thandikudi, on October 3 2019.

 Interview with Dr. Soundara Rajan,age 40, Scientist (Pathologist) RCRS –

Thandikudi, at Thandikudi, on October 3 2019.

 Interview with M.Pandian,age 52, planter, at Thandikudi, on October 3

2019.

 Interview with P.Murugan, age 40, planter, at Thandikudi, on October 3

2019.

Secondary sources:

Articles:

 M. violet D’Souza, Mechanization – A recent development in coffee

plantations, 2012.

 S.K. Soundarapandian, coffee in pulneys: is it still an economically viable

proposition?, 2012.

 Dr. V.G. Dhanakumar, Institutionalizing Coffee Producers Collective For

Business Orientation And Management, 2014.

  K.M. Kuruvilla, Coffee Based Cropping Systems in Lower Palani Hills,

2019

Books:

 Alex Enrique Bustillo, Compendium of coffee pests, February 2, 2015.

 RCRS Thandikudi silver jubilee souvenir, santhi publications, Dindigul,

December 8, 2012.

Web sources:

 https://www.indiacoffee.org

 https://m.economictimes.com

 https://www.thehindu.com

 https://iipmb.edu.in

 https://www.thehindubusinessline.com