Wayanad coffee should be developed into a value-added product and taken to global markets through processing, packaging, and branding instead of being viewed merely as an agricultural commodity, Mananthavady MLA Usha Vijayan has said.

She said concerted efforts were needed to make maximum use of the export potential of coffee and ensure higher incomes for farmers in Wayanad.

Ms. Vijayan was inaugurating a seminar on Tuesday (September 29) organised at the Wayanad Social Service Society hall at Mananthavady as part of the International Coffee Day observance.

The MLA stressed the need to ensure greater participation of young people and women in the coffee sector. New entrepreneurial opportunities should be created for them in areas such as processing, production of value-added products, packaging, branding, and marketing, in addition to cultivation, she said.

International Coffee Day will be observed on October 1.

The programme was organised jointly by the Keralam government, Coffee Board, KERA project, Wayanad Coffee Growers Association, South Indian Coffee Growers Association, and Kerala FPO-FPC Consortium.