Coffee Board deputy director (planning and co-ordination), M Bheemiah said, ``the board in association with the Tribal Welfare Department of Tripura will be implementing a new scheme - the development of coffee under small growers sector group for tribals in the state - to cover 100 hectare initially during the current year in two blocks with an investment of Rs 69 lakh.''

Senior Coffee Board officials said that the board will meet 50 per cent of the total cost of the scheme and co-ordinate with the tribal welfare department for selection of the area as well as the beneficiaries, apart from implementation of the project. Even though coffee was introduced in the state as aplantation crop on a commercial scale in the mid-seventies, it is yet to get popularised under the small grower sector and the tribal segment.

Sources say that the main reason for lack of interest in cultivating coffee as a commercial crop is lack of awareness and inadequate training facilities.