A strong flavour of coffee has already invaded these hills with the cardamom growers taking initiative to organise a seminar on coffee cultivation in these areas. The seminar, organised by the Cardamom Growers' Association at Vandanmedu, saw a big turnout by the cardamom growers eager to learn the secrets of coffee cultivation.

Speakers at the seminar pointed out that the Wayanad area, known for coffee cultivation, is saturated and that Idukki holds great prospects for coffee. Cardamom growers in Kerala are currently under a bad spell with a steep fall in prices and low productivity. Adding to their woes is the invasion of boththe international and domestic markets by Guatemalan cardamom which comes much cheaper.

While Indian cardamom has almost lost its race in the international market, it has some hopes in the domestic market with a high growth rate in consumption within the country. However, most growers feel that remunerative price for the queen spices will be hard to come by with low productivity and increasing cost of production.

Kerala contributes about 23 per cent of the total coffee production in the country. Post-blossom estimates for the current year says that coffee production in Kerala will be 51,800 tonnes out of a total production of 2,30,500 tonnes. Karnataka is estimated to produce 1,59,100 tonnes and Tamil Nadu 17,700 tonnes.

There are 76,393 coffee holdings in Kerala with 75,916 of these falling under the small holdings category ranging between 1 and 10 hecatres. There are only 477 holdings in the larger category ranging between 10 and 100 hecatres. Kerala's Wayanad area accounts for 67,077 hectares ofcoffee cultivation in the state. Travancore, including the Idukki district, accounts for 10,829 hectares and the Nelliampathy hills 4,650 hectares.

The seminar at Vandanmedu provided a basic idea about the possibilities of coffee cultivation in Idukki. The seminar even dealt with the coffee variety that will be most suited to Idukki. Experts were of the opinion that CXR, a cross between the traditional Robusta and Congensia, may be suited to the area. A research-cum-demonstration facility for coffee has been set up at Kattappana in the district.