Small Coffee Growers’ Association President Cheranda Nanda Subbaiah said the incentive scheme introduced by the Coffee Board, meant for coffee growers, will be a failure if cooperative societies are not made economically stable.

He was speaking at an interaction programme organised by Kodagu Coffee Growers’ Association and Coffee Board in the city on Monday.

He said cooperative societies  help the coffee growers in transporting the yield to the recognised auction markets.

The scheme introduced by the Coffee Board to provide incentive to coffee cultivated by growers, who supply coffee to the recognised auction markets through cooperative societies, federations and self-help groups, is good. But the biggest flaw of the scheme is that the cooperative societies are not getting any incentives, he remarked.

He said works such as providing space in godowns to store coffee, coffee processing, transporting coffee to the auction markets, are conducted by the cooperative societies. If they are not given any incentives, the societies wil not be willing to carry out these jobs, he observed.

Subbaiah said efforts were made to market coffee through Hopcoms between 1996 and 1998. But, the Hopcoms officials did not cooperate stating that they have no economic prospects. The same fate may befall on the scheme introduced by Coffee Board (if the cooperative societies did not get any benefit), Subbaiah claimed.

Coffee Board Director and Kodagu district representative Tara Ayyamma said the government will be urged to provide incentives to cooperative societies in future as well. But, right now, the growers have to utilise the scheme, Tara added.

Cooperative society directors B D Manjunath, coffee growers Pemmaiah and others took part in the interaction.

Coffee Board Bengaluru Market Division Deputy Director Babu Reddy provided details on the new scheme.

Kodagu Coffee Growers’ Cooperative Society President M B Devaiah, Vice President Ponnappa, Managing Director Vijay Kumar and Coffee Board Deputy Director Anant Kumar were among those present on the occasion.