The Chhattisgarh government has decided to constitute a board to promote the cultivation of tea and coffee in the state, officials said on Sunday.
On the direction of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, ‘Chhattisgarh Tea Coffee Board’ will be formed under the chairmanship of the state’s agriculture minister, an official statement said.
“The constitution of the board is aimed at encouraging the cultivation of tea and coffee in the state and to provide more benefits to local farmers and those involved in the processing activities”, the CM said in the release.
He said that the target of cultivating tea and coffee on at least 10,000 acres would be achieved in the next three years and cultivators would be given the benefits of the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana and other schemes of the agriculture department.
There is an enormous potential for the cultivation and processing of tea in the northern part of Chhattisgarh, particularly in the Jashpur district, and for coffee in the southern part, mainly in the Bastar district. Horticulture and Industry departments will play an important role to achieve this purpose, he said.
To meet the target, technical guidance from reputed national level institutions along with the support of private-sector experts, investors and consultants will be taken, he added.
While the state’s industry minister will be the vice-chairman of the board, additional chief secretary of the CM secretariat, commissioner, agriculture production, MD, Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation (CSIDC), and one officer each from agriculture/ horticulture and forest departments will be its members, the statement said.
Besides, the board will also have two special members.
The climate of the plateau region of the Jashpur district is favorable for the cultivation of tea and it is the only district in Central India where successful cultivation of tea is being done, it said. With the assistance of the government, the cultivation of tea is in progress on 80 acres of agricultural land of about 50 farmers in north Chhattisgarh. Tea production starts five years after plantation and there is a possibility to fetch a profit of Rs 2 lakh per acre in case of good production, the release added. (PTI)
