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OUR,BUNEAU
Bengaluru,lanuary I 7
India's coffee sector is seen get-
ting a technology boost with
the Staterun Coffee Board pro
posing to introduce a hosi of
initiatives ranglng from block-
chain to drones soon.
Coffee Board Secretary Sriv-
atsa Krishna said the foai.d has
partnered with Eka Analvtics to
introduce blockchain teihnolo
gies into the coffee sector cover-
ing growers, consumers, ex-
porters and the trade including
cafes on a pilot basis.
Ralnfall, soil data
Besides, the rainfall data
gathered for over loo years and
soil info are being usid to de
O r-$
ud.to
rV-
d,-
,*- t?
-D
liver extension and advisory ser.
vices to the growers on demand
thrgugh a mobile app, Krishna
said at the inaugural of the zth
edition of the India Interna-
tional Coffee Festival.
Besides, the Board also pro
poses to introduce the model of
hecision Agriculture Develop
ment, developed by Harvard
prolessors Michael Kremer and
Shawn Cole to the coffee semor
in the country and deploy
drones for crop estimaiion,
Krishna added.
He also urged the growers to
come together to promote cof-
tee.
Itishna further said that the
Board has
lpplied for a GI tag
for four coffee varieties, a move
P cac^ l8
that could help position beuer
and fetch premiums.
The fourday IICF, organised
by the India CoffeeTrust and the
Coffee Board, is perceived to be
a precursor to the International
Coffee Organisationt World
Coffee Congress which India
will be hosting for the first time
in2020 in Bengaluru.
India is the sixth Iargest Dre
ducer ofcoffee and aboit zo per
cent of the country's produce is
exported to Europe and Russia
among others.
Karnataka Agriculture Minis-
ter Krishna Byre Gowda, while
inaugurating the festival, said
the domestic marketprovided a
big opportunity for the coffee
fraternity to boost consump
tion.
Tax issues
Sudhir Sitapati, Executive Dir-
ector-Refreshments, at Hindus-
tan Unilever [td, stressed uoon
the need for a parity in GSI
between tea and coffee.
While the leaf tea atfiacts a
GST of5 per cent, on instant cof-
fee it is pegged at l8 per cent.
The main objective of the fest-
ival this year is to caDture the
,
:I:iq::11 f ana t6'Aicus,
the coffee sector
tahng place in
I
j
issues faced by the
industryand
growers, said
I
Anil Kumar j
Bhandari, President, India Cof- '
feeTtust