Govt gives GI tag to three coffee varieties from K'taka

Bengaluru: The government on Friday said it has awarded Geographical Indication (GI) tag to three varieties of Indian coffee in Karnataka including Coorg Arabica coffee.

The move is expected to help the growers get maximum price for their premium produce.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has recently awarded this tag to — Coorg Arabica coffee, Chikmaglur Arabica, and Bababudangiris Arabica coffee.

Bababudangiris Arabica coffee is selectively hand-picked and processed by natural fermentation.

It added that In India, coffee is cultivated in about 4.54 lakh hectares by 3.66 lakh coffee farmers of which 98 per cent are small farmers.

Coffee cultivation is mainly done in the southern states of India including Karnataka, which accounts for 54 per cent of the total production.

India is the only country in the world where the entire coffee cultivation is grown under shade, hand-picked and sun dried, it said adding the country produces some of the best coffee in the world, grown by tribal farmers in the Western and Eastern Ghats, which are the two major bio-diversity hotspots in the world. Indian coffee is highly valued in the world market and sold as premium coffee in Europe.