: Koraputs caffeine fix: Coffee cultivation mitigates distressed migration among Odishas tribals #IndiaNEWS #National,INSIGHT By Prativa GhoshKoraput (Odisha), July 23 (IANS/ 101Reporters) Life has

Koraputs caffeine fix: Coffee cultivation mitigates distressed migration among Odishas tribals #IndiaNEWS #National ,INSIGHT
By Prativa GhoshKoraput (Odisha), July 23 (IANS/ 101Reporters) Life has transformed due to coffee. Although work was available, it took months to get the money. However, now the Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation of Odisha Limited (TDCCOL) comes home and buys coffee berries directly from us. We pluck the berries at night and send them for processing; we also receive the money within the day. This year alone, I earned a profit of Rs 21,500, selling 480 kg of coffee berries, says Balram Huntal of Kiramba village, Nandpur block.
Koraput, nestled in the hilly terrain of the Eastern Ghats, at an altitude of 3,000 ft above sea level, is ideal for coffee cultivation due to its cool climate and favourable rainfall. However, before coffee became a viable economic possibility, distressed migration was the only option, with most tribal families travelling from Koraput to Odishas neighbouring states yearly.
The scarcity of employment opportunities, climate change-induced environmental factors, poor agricultural production, lack of irrigation and drought, deforestation, inadequate food security, low working wages, economic deprivation, exploitation by moneylenders or middlemen, deplorable working conditions, excessive debt, and an overall bleak prospect of surviving with dignity forced people to leave their homes and seek better options.
Coffee to the rescue
Keeping these socio-economic roadblocks in mind, the district administration has tried to provide alternative employment through coffee cultivation to those workers who do not hold job cards. The government is extending support to the adivasis from Koraput, Nandpur, Dasmantpur, Laxmipur, and Lamatput; two coffee nurseries have been set up in Nandpur, Lamatput and Dasmantpur, and one each in Koraput, Similiguda and Laxmipur.
District Labour Officer Prasno Panigrahi tells 101Reporters: As many as 9,940 people migrated for work from the district during the Covid-19 pandemic. Of this, 3,843 migrant construction workers returned. Of these, 2,678 were unskilled and 172 went to work at brick kilns. Many of them are now employed as labourers at coffee plantations.
Manik Kooda of Golur village, Nandpur block, says: Three self-help groups (SHG) in the villages have been involved in growing and selling coffee, earning more than Rs 40,000 yearly. This year, our profit margin rose by Rs 12,000 per SHG. This crop has, indeed, brought about a remarkable change in the lives of the tribal people, who mainly practised shifting cultivation, or podu, for generations.
Weve been growing coffee since 2012 but did not get much money out of it because traders used to buy from us at Rs 10 to 15 per kg. However, TDCCOL started buying it at Rs 35 per kg.

Latest stock market news Twitter alternate of India

10% popularity Flash it Bury this