The Book titled "The Brown Revolution - Tribal Coffee in Andhra Pradesh" brought out by the Board was released by Sri Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh on 19th December, 2003 at Hyderabad. The book skilfully integrates the various facets of tribal coffee development in Andhra Pradesh.

"Compared to other income generating interventions offered to the tribals, coffee emerged as a better option due to its relatively higher returns. The quality of life of the tribals has improved due to good market returns." Mr. Srikant Nagulapalli, Project Director, ITDA. Paderu.

"In the past, majority of the tribes depended on forest produce for survival. With declining forest cover, however, forest produce is now, at best, a source of additional income. Agriculture has emerged as the major means of survival for these tribes." Prof. Satyapaul, Anthropology Department, Andhra University.

Tribals in Coffee Cultivation

Coffee in the Eastern Ghats ripens to the distant rhythm of Dhimsa (Traditional tribal folk dance), and carries the flavour of gentle tribal hands that nurture each plant. Look at the following instances:

• Linganna Padal, a 50-year-old tribal from Sankada village, GK Veedhi Mandal is the proud owner of a demonstration coffee farm. He is one of the many tribals who has started coffee in podu lands. Coffee growers come to his estate to observe cultural operations, new techniques in coffee cultivation and maintenance of the plantation. Linganna Padal says that due ot coffee revenue, he has healthy food, clothing and a house. He has also been able to educate his children. His son has passed the X grade examination, a great achievement in this community. "Earlier we cut trees for Podu. Now we have realised how difficult it is to grow trees," says his son.
• "We get more rain if we plant trees. And for growing coffee, we have to plant trees. So this is good," - P.N. Jayanthi, Tribal grower.
• K. Mallu Padal of Sankada Village has two acres of podu land and cultivates millets and niger. He plans to plant silver oak in order to start coffee. "I cannot fulfil my family's requirements with the millets grown on this land," he says.
• P. Jogiraju and S Bodu Padal from the same village who get only Rs. 500 per annum from their one acre of podu land in which they grow millets and niger, have realised that the income from coffee is very much higher that the other agricultural crops. They are looking forward to convert their lands into coffee plantations.

• Relatively few marketing difficulties
• Good technical support from Coffee Board
• Comparatively easy to cultivate
• Excellent potential for being cultivated by tribal farmers
• Remarkable environmental benefits
• Supports other crops like pepper and fruit as additional income
• Coffee flowers produce good pollen and nectar for bee-keeping

• Restoring the environmental balance
• Increasing awareness level in selecting the major and inter-crops
• Using organic fertilisers
• Processing and marketing of produce
• Organizing people's institutions for negotiating from positions of strength