Nirmala Sitharaman plans to have a meeting of all stake-holders of the coffee industry in Bangalore and for the Tea Industry in Guwahati.
Bangalore :
Union Ministers have assured Karnataka coffee growers that the 12th Five-Year Plan for the Coffee Board would be announced by August end.
In their meeting, coffee growers told Minister of Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman that the 12th Plan outlay for coffee is overdue by about two years and many small and large growers are eagerly awaiting the Plan proposals as they have held back some investments because of the impending notification.
After patiently hearing growers’ problems, she assured them that the notification will be made by the end of August. The growers also have urged Union ministers to revisit the Kasturirangan Report and remove plantations from the preview of the act for Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, just as it has been done for Kerala. The members of the delegation that met the Union Ministers included D Govindappa Jayaram, chairman, and K Kurian, vice-chairman, of the Karnataka Planters Association; MS Jayaram, president, Thirthamallesh, secretary, Nanda Belliappa and MS Boje Gowda of the Karnataka Growers Federation; Peter Mathias, president, and Ullas Menon, Secretary-General, United Planters Association of Southern India.
The planters’ delegation was in New Delhi from July 29 to August 1 to discuss issues with Commerce Ministry officials and Nirmala Sitharaman. The delegation also met newly-elected MPs from Karnataka and apprised them on various issues. Pollution control norms for pulping were also brought to the ministers’ attention. Growers urged them to consider studies done by the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. Ministers assured the delegation that SCTL for growers above 10 hectares would be looked into. They also said that recoveries of loans which have become non-performing assets and those before the Debt Recovery Tribunal would not be brought under the SARFAESI Act for any plantation lands.
Meetings
Nirmala Sitharaman suggested plans to have a meeting for all stake-holders of the coffee industry in Bangalore and for the Tea Industry in Guwahati.
She also suggested that the Rainfall Insurance Plan will be modified to include all plantation losses caused due to heavy rainfall, drought or heavy pest attacks, such as white stem borer or stalk/bean/leaf rot (Koleroga) etc. She also said she would explore ways of including research scientists from the agricultural department for doing research on coffee, as well as getting some funding from the Agricultural Ministry for the same.
The Ministers also assured help in getting the approval of the National Horticultural Package (for Pepper) for Karnataka.
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> Agri-Biz / The Hindu Bureau / Bangalore – August 03rd, 2014
