Kalpetta: An increasing number of coffee growers in South India are looking beyond India for high-yielding and disease-resistant planting material. Farmers in Wayanad, Nilgiris and Coorg are experimenting with varieties and selections from Vietnam, Brazil and Kenya, hoping to raise productivity and remain competitive in the international market.

The Coffee Board has cautioned growers against introducing untested exotic planting material without following prescribed import, quarantine and evaluation procedures.

The issue has exposed a gap between farmers seeking faster access to planting material and the Coffee Board and Central Coffee Research Institute (CCRI), which insist on scientific evaluation.

Farmers look abroad for higher productivity
According to a recent communique from Dr M Senthilkumar, Director of Research at the CCRI, private nurseries and individuals in South India are marketing Vietnamese types such as TR4, TR9 and TR11, along with certain Brazilian high-yielding selections.

The communique noted that such material was promoted on social media, with claims of high yields, pest resistance and other desirable traits. With coffee prices high, demand has increased.

The Coffee Board warned that vendors’ performance claims were not verified by the Board or CCRI. The concern was also biosecurity risks from pests, diseases or invasive organisms not currently present in India.

Biosecurity concerns
Coffee is vulnerable to pests and diseases, while new pathogens could have consequences beyond individual farms. Planting material is therefore subject to quarantine procedures. Dr M Karuthamani, Regional Joint Director of the Coffee Board for Kerala and Tamil Nadu, said established protocols existed for importing coffee planting material.

He said the Coffee Board had not authorised or accredited any farmers’ group or private nursery to import and propagate exotic coffee varieties, stressing that national regulatory measures must be followed for the long-term sustainability of the sector. The Board says new planting material should be imported through authorised channels, quarantined and scientifically evaluated before commercial release.

The Coffee Board argues that India need not depend entirely on foreign material. The CCRI has developed and evaluated several Robusta varieties, including S274, CxR and Peradeniya. It also released S4595, S5085, S5086 and S5059 after long, location-specific trials.

The trials assessed yield, adaptability, pest and disease resistance, quality and performance across seasons. The Board said a variety that performed well in one country may not necessarily succeed under Indian conditions.

Farmers argue that the regulatory system is not keeping pace with Vietnam and Brazil, where improved planting material has been adopted rapidly. Some growers fear India could lose competitiveness if promising varieties take too long to reach farmers.

There are also allegations that global companies, including Nestlé India Limited, are involved in trials of foreign coffee material in Wayanad. These claims, however, require confirmation from the organisations concerned and should not be treated as evidence of unauthorised introduction.

Prasanth Rajesh, Director of the Wayanad Coffee Growers’ Association, said the competitive environment had changed fundamentally. “Coffee is now primarily an export commodity, with almost 90 per cent of production exported,” he said. He said Indian farmers were competing with producers in Vietnam and Uganda.

“Our competition is not local. To compete, we must increase productivity,” he said. He noted that Vietnam’s average productivity was around 1,800 kg per hectare, while India’s was about 800 kg per hectare.

“If the Coffee Board remains slow, the institution may survive another decade, but farmers will not. That is why many of us are experimenting with exotic varieties. We are willing to take risks, and the Board should cooperate rather than obstruct,” he said. Rajesh added that farmers would support formal, controlled trials of promising varieties if facilitated by the Coffee Board.

Farmers increasingly rely on international research, commercial plantations and peer experiences in Vietnam and Brazil. Social media has accelerated access to information, prompting calls for controlled experimentation with research institutions rather than outright restriction.

The Coffee Board is preparing an awareness campaign across major coffee-growing regions in South India on quarantine clearance, biosecurity risks and legal requirements for importing exotic planting material.

Farmer bodies say the issue calls for farmer-participatory trials, with promising varieties introduced through authorised channels, quarantined and evaluated jointly by the CCRI, Coffee Board and selected farmers' groups under defined protocols.