Coffee

A popular drink worldwide, Coffee is liked, admired and is preferred as a refreshment drink in every nook and corner of the world today. This drink has several benefits for health and is liked in most societies nowadays. India is one of the major coffee producing countries in the world. Its southern states are the major coffee producers where it is cultivated in hill tracts which is best suited for its cultivation. Only Karnataka accounts for 53% of the total coffee production while nearby states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu produce 28% and 11% of total produced respectively.

Arabica and Robusta are the two prominent varieties of Indian coffee. Such categories of coffee are produced in three southern states. According to the researches done till date, such coffees are popular and are cultivated since 17th century.

Coffee Production in India

What makes Indian coffee different from the rest categories of coffee produced in the world nowadays? According to many researches done till date, Indian coffee has already been denoted with the finest quality of coffee grown in best shades instead of those cultivated in the direct sunlight in the rest parts of the world. It should also be noted that approximately 80% of the coffee produced in India is exported to the countries like Germany, Russian Federation, Spain, Belgium, Slovenia, United States of America, Japan, Greece, Netherlands and France and Italy et al.

Method of Growing Coffee

Sufficient rainfall is required to cultivate coffee. As southern monsoon hits the hilly areas of three southern states it get ample rainfall which is the major need for the production of finest quality Indian coffee. Systematic coffee cultivation is practiced in India's traditional regions and the areas that have been prepared artificially for the purpose to cultivate coffee. As India is one of the key coffee exporters, its coffee plantations too have flourished fast over the period.

Two-tier shading is important for coffee cultivation which Indian coffee gardens can provide to maintain finest quality. In fact, they are inter-cropped and are common spices like cardamom, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg grown alongside coffee as they all require similar weather and climatic conditions besides overall support. To cultivate premier coffee of Arabica group, growing altitudes must remain at a level between 1,000m to 1,500m which three southern states can offer.

Range of 500m to 1,000m suffices for Robusta coffee which is a bit lower in quality. Coffee cultivation needs perfect environment and weather conditions for which soil must remain properly drained so that rich organic matter and slightly acidic favor could be made possible. Proper care is required from blooming to maturing while coffee cultivation is done. Cultivators take special care of the coffee flowers through proper irrigation after plantation to ensure that blooming phase remains smooth for the white flowers to emerge and seeds mature thereafter for their perfectness in a process of completing the coffee plantation. There is variation in the time period between plantations and full blooming. It remains a seething moment to see coffee plants turning mature thereafter.

Coffee Growing States in India & Best Season

The three south Indian states of India namely Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are the best suited regions for coffee cultivation due to the presence of hills and suitable environment in these states. They therefore form as the most traditional coffee growing regions in the country today. A few more states which have already been strategically planned and developed through introducing artificial coffee cultivation plan and culture to make them suitable for a purpose are eastern and northeastern states. Such states include Andhra Pradesh and Orissa and northeastern states of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh where coffee cultivation has been promoted over the decades.

Coffee cultivation requires suitable climatic condition to grow in the specific rainfall and temperature levels. They should range from 73°F to 82°F and 60–80 inches rainfall. It should follow with at least 2-3 months dry spell for perfect coffee variety. Coffee can't be cultivated in cold temperatures of closer to freezing conditions. Next level of producing finest coffee is to process them carefully. Two important types of processing are dry and wet processing options to prepare coffee for its best use.

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