India to get $594,349 to control 'Leaf Rust' in coffee
The assistance is part of a $2.91 million fund, which has been approved by Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) to check diseases in coffee in five countries, including India.
By PTI |
NEW DELHI: India would receive $5,94,349 from a UN-funded body to check diseases like Leaf Rust- found in coffee crop that leads to the withering away of the leaf.
The assistance is part of a $2.91 million fund, which has been approved by Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) to check diseases in coffee in five countries, including India.
The Amsterdam-based CFC, an inter-governmental financial institution of United Nations, has approved the fund to finance a project on "Increasing the Resilience of Coffee Production to Leaf Rust and Other Diseases" in India and some African countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Zimbabwe, a release from International Coffee Organisation (ICO) said.
In this project, the Coffee Board, government's trade promotion body for the commodity, would contribute 3,16,573 dollars, a senior government official said.
When contacted, Coffee Board Chairman G V Krishna Rau told PTI: "The project was originally proposed by the Coffee Board of India. After it was recommended by the ICO for CFC funding, the project scope was expanded at the instance of the CFC to include four other countries from Africa which also face similar problems."
He said it is good that the project has been finally approved, and added "it will help us in identifying and breeding the coffee plant varieties resistant to leaf rust and anthracnose diseases".
In India, the five-year project would cover Coffee Leaf Rust and Anthracnose diseases, he said, adding it would be completed in 2011-12.
The crop loss on account of coffee leaf rust is estimated at 20-30 per cent of the country's total production, Rau said.
India's coffee production in 2007-08 season starting this month is likely to be 2.91 lakh tonnes as against about 2.88 lakh tonnes produced in the previous year.
The assistance is part of a $2.91 million fund, which has been approved by Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) to check diseases in coffee in five countries, including India.
The Amsterdam-based CFC, an inter-governmental financial institution of United Nations, has approved the fund to finance a project on "Increasing the Resilience of Coffee Production to Leaf Rust and Other Diseases" in India and some African countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Zimbabwe, a release from International Coffee Organisation (ICO) said.
In this project, the Coffee Board, government's trade promotion body for the commodity, would contribute 3,16,573 dollars, a senior government official said.
When contacted, Coffee Board Chairman G V Krishna Rau told PTI: "The project was originally proposed by the Coffee Board of India. After it was recommended by the ICO for CFC funding, the project scope was expanded at the instance of the CFC to include four other countries from Africa which also face similar problems."
He said it is good that the project has been finally approved, and added "it will help us in identifying and breeding the coffee plant varieties resistant to leaf rust and anthracnose diseases".
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In India, the five-year project would cover Coffee Leaf Rust and Anthracnose diseases, he said, adding it would be completed in 2011-12.
The crop loss on account of coffee leaf rust is estimated at 20-30 per cent of the country's total production, Rau said.
India's coffee production in 2007-08 season starting this month is likely to be 2.91 lakh tonnes as against about 2.88 lakh tonnes produced in the previous year.
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