Mitigating Climate Change Requires Innovative Solutions
Even though the power of digitalisation is now percolating across society in India (at a pace far faster than is happening in many developed countries) including across government systems, most people would scoff if one were to say that digitalization has started to make a huge difference in managing plantations. They would think that this statement would maybe imply the improved means of communication/telephony amongst the employees across the widely spread (and remote) plantation geographies, and maybe use of ERP systems in the organized sector. Well, times are changing, and this is far removed from the current reality.
Digital enumeration of coffee bushes
Tata Coffee Limited (TCL) has commenced use of digitalization in its operations in a big way, and it is not inconceivable that use of AI, IoT, Block chain, etc. will become commonplace soon, and help make relatively easy and scientific the complex decisions that need to be taken in a plantation setup, especially as this industry needs innovation and more to cope with the vagaries of weather and other related effects, caused by climate change. The situation is likely to become even more challenging, going forward.
TCL has undertaken a massive exercise to conduct a census for its coffee bushes and shade trees. The scale can be visualized from the fact that this enumeration exercise has thrown up the following numbers - 11 million Arabica bushes, 4.4 million Robusta bushes, and 1.34 million shade trees with a trunk girth in excess of 1 metre (with possibly a similar number having a lesser girth). These trees consist of 64 identified native trees, including 11 endangered tree species which are protected and conserved. The logical question is what benefits will accrue with such a time-consuming and expensive enumeration exercise.
Well, for starts it has already started to yield fruit, literally and figuratively. Not only has this effort (along with other relevant data that has been collected) led to an accurate estimate of carbon sequestration (that is another dramatic story), but it is allowing a move towards ‘precision’ farming, with decisions on fertilizer usage and pesticide application (a caveat that only those chemicals {green triangle} are used, as are authorized by certifying bodies) calculated based on current status and anticipated load of a ‘block’ of coffee bushes (a coffee estate is bifurcated into divisions, which in turn has blocks for ease of management, and monitoring of cultivation practices).
Incidentally, TCL is one of the world’s largest integrated coffee cultivation and processing companies today, covering 19 estates, spread over 8,000 hectares, producing some of the finest quality Green Beans, Pepper, Tea, and Instant Coffee.
Innovative initiative
One initiative that is totally innovative, requiring a tremendous degree of effort, and spread over a long time (in years) to provide answers is to use the completed digitalization of the coffee bushes, and periodic measurement along chosen parameters to identify “elite” coffee clones, which can be propagated for wider use in future planting. The MD and CEO of TCL, Chacko Thomas, feels that for TCL, this may be a key initiative towards tackling climate change, and the concomitant drought situations in the coffee plantations.
The exercise is quite painstaking and requires companywide mobilization and diligent perseverance. About 2 years back, post an extensive consultative process involving experienced coffee pickers, field supervisors, and other estate staff across all 19 coffee estates, nearly 7500 ‘good’ coffee bushes were identified, and geo-tagged. Thereafter, post a detailed analysis and finalization, data is being collected pertaining to each of these chosen bushes, and will continue over the next 4 years - the 27 chosen parameters include some obvious ones such as bush coffee bean production and bush foliage, but many others such as resilience during drought, number of fruits per bunch, number of bunches of fruits, quality attributes, etc. This is being collected through use of a mobile app, and extensive training has been provided to field personnel to collect the data diligently. Appropriate checks have been built into the system to ensure reliability of the data, given the high importance attached to the humungous exercise.
It is visualized that data collection over a period of 4 years is likely to even out any ‘localized factors’ that may have created an aberration, and if the bush, during this extended period, has continued to exhibit high levels of performance on the chosen 27 parameters, then it is truly deserving of the “elite” tag. Some early work has also been done to assess the purity of these plants and identifying their DNA fingerprints.
TCL will thereafter honor these elite bushes by multiplying them through tissue culture, or vegetative propagation, for replanting. As there is an annual process of removal of old bushes and replacement with new bushes (as well to replace those that have died due to other causes), these elite plants will provide higher production and resilience to drought in the years to come.
The entire process is managed centrally by the impressive R&D department of TCL, which also plays a pivotal role in TCL in the finalization of cultivation practices, pest and disease management, and post-harvest technology. The R&D Department along with the estate team are monitoring the progress on this mammoth exercise given the vital importance of the project and the entire team is greatly excited of the possibility of making a difference, going forward.
TCL does not believe in keeping the benefits of such a painstaking but high-value exercise all to itself – in line with the Tata Group ethos and in line with the Rainforest Alliance certification, TCL intends to share the same with the community of other coffee growers, especially the smallholders.
TCL conducts an annual ‘R&D Day’ - “Inventica”, when it opens its doors to neighbours and other coffee growers and makes them aware of the learnings from the various experiments carried out by its R&D team during the previous 12 months on coffee cultivation, waste management, conservation of ecosystems, water, flora, and fauna (disseminated through monthly Advisory Circulars, too). Free consultation is also provided to the small coffee growers during the course of the year. It also conducts soil tests for them in its R&D Lab, at cost. It has also been selling high-quality planting material through nurseries set up for this purpose. It is visualized that once the ‘elite’ planting material is finally identified and multiplied, it will be made available to the coffee-growing community through these nurseries. This will help multiply the benefits of prosperity to the larger community and help truly realize the gains for TCL from use of the power of digitalization in the coffee plantation business. And, the digital transformation story of Tata Coffee will not end there.
