Surprising? Not to those in the industry
who know beans about their coffee. Close to 300,000 tons of it (and rising
steadily) are produced annually. In fact, the cultivation of coffee in
India dates back to 1600 A.D. when a holy man from India (Baba Budan)
brought six coffee seeds from Yemen and planted them. Although India is
primarily associated with tea, high quality estate coffee production had
been neglected for the most part--until recently.
Riding the wave of this recent explosion from India is a
company called Plantation Direct Associates(PDA).
Owners of 400 acres for the past
30 years, this large family-owned plantation is committed to informing the
world about Indian coffee. The plantations are at elevations of between
4,000 - 5,400 feet located on the windward side of the Western Ghats in
the Chickmagalur District within the Bababudangiri ranges. The high
altitude has a profoundly positive effect on the quality of the coffees.
However, it also presents many difficulties for the farmers and skilled
laborers. Yields of coffee per acre are significantly less than those from
plantations at lower altitudes. Picking of the cherries on these slopes is
much more difficult as well as the transport of these cherries to the
curer. The soils are acidic in nature and lateric in origin. They are also
rich in nitrogen and potassium; moderate in phosphorus; and adequate in
iron, manganese, copper and molybdenum. They have also been supplied
regularly with calcium, magnesium, sulphur and zinc.
With respect to climate, the
estate has
an ideal annual rainfall of 90-100 inches (well distributed
from April through November) and a dry spell from December to March/April
which helps in processing and in natural sun drying of the Arabica coffee.
The coffee is grown in the shade of trees such as Dalbergia (Rosewood),
Ficus, Silver Oak, Jack and Albizzia. |
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