Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday directed officials to evolve ways to make the state a major producer of coffee.
Naidu held a review on coffee production in Visakhapatnam region with former Coffee Board Chairman Krishna Rao and officials here.
The Chief Minister was informed that despite favourable climatic conditions in the region, backwardness and non-usage of modern technologies led to a decline in coffee production, according to an official release.
"Of the 58,000 hectares of coffee cultivated in Andhra Pradesh's agency areas, 55,000 hectares are being cultivated by tribals alone. The Chief Minister said this should be increased to one lakh hectares," it said.
While Karnataka cultivates an average of 700 kg per hectare, output of coffee in the plantations in Visakhapatnam agency area stands as low as 170 kg per hectare, it said.
The CM, who directed the officials to introduce best practices for increasing productivity through the use of modern technologies, said the coffee growers could be educated about scientific methods.
Naidu said increasing coffee output in these areas would not only uplift and empower lives of tribals, but also bring a branding to AP in coffee production.
The Chief Minister said Andhra Pradesh should excel in coffee output and asked officials to come up with ways to push the state to top position in production of the popular brewed beverage, the release added.
Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are the top three coffee producers in the country.
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