Challenges in getting organic coffee certification in ASR district

However, despite such widespread cultivation, only 50 to 60 farmers secure organic certification annually. This is a matter of concern for coffee farmers.

There are three members in the Coffee Board from ASR district – Kurasa Umamaheswara Rao (Paderu), Jaithu Prabhakar (Chintapalli) and Tangula Viswanatham (Dumbri Guda). They pointed to the multiple hurdles that farmers face in this regard, including difficulties in transporting coffee for quality checks and obtaining grading and organic certificates.
Additionally, there is a lack of comprehensive awareness among farmers about maintaining the quality of coffee.

Prabhakar pointed out that many farmers are not part of the Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). They do not collaborate with NGOs in getting organic certification.

The Coffee Board member highlighted a critical challenge; ensuring proper moisture levels in coffee beans. He underlined that drying coffee beans on clean, open, cemented ground is key to obtaining grade certificates. But such infrastructure is scarce. Improper drying on unclean soil is leading to a decline in coffee quality. Efforts are underway to address this problem by supplying tarpaulin sheets to ensure clean drying surfaces.

Tribal farmers have also expressed concern that the district collector and the ITDA project officer had not been present at the Coffee Board meeting on March 7, which had been presided over by board chairman M.J. Dinesh. Farmers felt their presence would have led to discussions on important issues, such as securing organic certification and obtaining high-yielding coffee varieties from the Central Coffee Research Institute.

Farmers hoped that the collector and the project officer would be present when the Coffee Board chairman visits the district again in April.