Skip to content

Coffee Board replanting and rejuvenation subsidy Photo: placeholder pending image-fill pass

Coffee Board replanting and rejuvenation subsidy

The Coffee Development Programme (CDP) is the Coffee Board of India's flagship grower-support scheme under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Its replanting and rejuvenation subsidy component reimburses a percentage of the cost of uprooting and replanting old, low-yielding coffee blocks with improved planting material — primarily the rust-resistant arabica selections Cauvery (Coffee Arabica Cauvery Catimor), Chandragiri (Coffee Arabica Chandragiri), Sln 9 / Sln 12 (Coffee Arabica Sln 9 Saln 12) and the high-yield robusta hybrid CxR (Coffee Robusta Cxr Coffea Canephora).

Overview

Indian coffee plantings carry a high proportion of bushes over 30-50 years old whose productivity has declined and whose susceptibility to leaf rust and white stem borer has accumulated. The CDP subsidy is designed to accelerate the turnover of such blocks, lift national average yields (which remain around 700-900 kg/ha against a global average of 800-1,000 kg/ha), and stabilise smallholder incomes against international price volatility.

Eligibility

  • Registered coffee growers in any of the 13 notified coffee districts of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh (Araku), Odisha (Koraput) and the North-East
  • Holdings classified as small grower (under 10 hectares) receive higher per-hectare subsidy rates than large estates
  • Blocks proposed for replanting must be at least 25-30 years old or demonstrably uneconomic
  • Replanting must use planting material from a Coffee Board approved nursery and the variety must be a CCRI-released or Board-recommended selection for the zone

Benefit and structure

The subsidy is paid in instalments tied to physical milestones:

  • Uprooting and pit-digging (year 0)
  • Planting (year 0-1)
  • Maintenance and gap-filling (years 2-3)
  • Successful establishment audit (year 3-4)

Small growers receive a higher unit-cost subsidy (commonly notified as a per-hectare lump sum) than estates above 10 hectares. Parallel CDP sub-components support water augmentation (farm ponds, sprinkler irrigation), pulping unit subsidies for wet processing, mechanisation and pollination beekeeping.

Implementation

Applications are filed at the nearest Coffee Board Sub-Office, accompanied by land records, the block plan, the chosen variety mix and the Board nursery from which planting material will be drawn. Inspections by Coffee Board Junior Liaison Officers verify uprooting, planting density and the use of approved varieties before each instalment is released.

See also: Coffee Arabica Cauvery Catimor, Coffee Arabica Chandragiri, Coffee Arabica Sln 9 Saln 12, Coffee Robusta Cxr Coffea Canephora, Coffee Shade Cultivation Silver Oak, Coffee Monsooned Malabar Gi.

Sources

  1. Coffee Development Programme - Coffee Board of India. Coffee Board of India.
  2. Replanting Subsidy Scheme - Coffee Board. Coffee Board of India.