Coffee Board Jobs for Opening For Extension Inspector in Bangalore

The saga of Indian coffee began on a humble note, with planting of Seven seeds of Mocha during 1600 AD by the legendary holy saint Baba Budan, in the courtyard of his hermitage on Baba Budan Giris in Karnataka. For quite a considerable period, the plants remained as a garden curiosity and spread slowly as back yard plantings. It was during 18th century that the commercial plantations of coffee were started, thanks to the success of British entrepreneurs in conquering the hostile forest terrain in south India. Since then, Indian coffee industry has made rapid strides and earned a distinct identity in the coffee map of the world. century that the commercial plantations of coffee were started, thanks to the success of British entrepreneurs in conquering the hostile forest terrain in south India.Since then, Indian coffee industry has made rapid strides and earned a distinct identity in the coffee map of the world.

Growth and Decline of Indian coffee industry

In the interim, the coffee industry in India has experienced great fluctuations in fortunes. Initially the spread of commercial Arabica plantations was rapid in the hills of present day Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu states, till 1860s. Within next few years, major out breaks of pests and diseases like white stem borer, green bug and leaf rust posed a serious threat to the flourishing coffee industry. The continuous ravages of white stem borer and leaf rust spelled doom for Arabica plantations whose area started declining alarmingly. This necessitated introduction of tolerant robusta from Indo-China region towards the 1900s and initiation of research efforts to search for remedial measures.

Coffee Board & its functions

During 1940s, the coffee industry in India was in a desperate state due to the II World war resulting in very low prices and ravages of pests and diseases. At this time, the Government of India established the Coffee Board through a constitutional act Coffee Act VII of 1942 under the administrative control of Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The Board comprises 33 members including the Chairman, who is the Chief Executive and appointed by the Government of India. The remaining 32 members represent the various interests such as coffee growing industry, coffee trade interests, curing establishments, interests of labour and consumers, representatives of governments of the principal coffee growing states, and Members of Parliament.

Role of Coffee Board

After pooling was discontinued in 1996, Coffee Board serves as the friend, philosopher and guide to the Coffee sector covering the entire value chain. The core activities are primarily directed towards research & development, transfer of technology, quality improvement, extending development support to growing sector, promotion of coffee in export and domestic markets. The activities of the Board are broadly aimed at (i) enhancement of production, productivity & quality (ii) export promotion for achieving higher value returns for Indian Coffee and (iii) supporting development of Domestic market.

Research Department

Organized research in coffee was initiated during 1925 by the erstwhile Mysore Government by setting up the Mysore Coffee Experiment Station near Balehonnur in Chikmagalur district. After formation of the Board the research station was brought under its administrative control. Presently the Research Department of the Board with its headquarters at the Central Coffee Research Institute and five regional stations has a sanctioned strength of 113 scientific personnel and is involved in development of improved varieties with tolerance to major pests and diseases and standardization of technology for improving production, productivity and quality.

Extension Wing

The Extension wing of the Board is a vast network of extension units located in all the major coffee growing zones with a sanctioned strength of 278 technical personnel. The extension personnel are involved in dissemination of latest technologies to the growers, organizing capacity building programmes to the growers and farm workers, implementation of various development support, risk insurance and labor welfare schemes of the Board and other activities like crop estimation, crop losses etc.

Market Research & Intelligence Unit

The Board has a Market Intelligence Unit functioning from its head office at Bangalore. The unit undertakes various activities related to market information & intelligence, market research studies, crop forecasting and coffee economics aspects. The unit also undertakes studies on research related to the coffee trade including WTO issues. Notable publications include the daily market intelligence report and a comprehensive database on coffee (Quarterly). The periodical reports that are already completed include Coffee Consumption in India 2001, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009 and Attitude towards coffee drinking 2007. The unit coordinated studies on (i) logistics and competitiveness of coffee producing countries (India, Vietnam & Brazil) (ii) MAI Scheme on promotion of Indian coffee exports to Russia and CIS countries (iii) Transaction Costs of Indian Coffee Exports and a manual on coffee retailing. The unit also coordinates the implementation of Price Stabilization Fund Scheme of Govt. of India and Rainfall Insurance Scheme for Coffee growers. The Unit maintains the Boards official website.