The conference, which is being held at Bangalore, also coincides with the annual conference of the KPA and besides other issues will discuss the existing coffee and spices scenario in the country. The conference will have participations both from the government and industry.

Eminent speakers in the conference include the executive director, Tata Tea and the president, Upasi, MH Ashraff, vice-chairman, Coffee Board, Bose Mandanna, chairman, Spices Board, V Jayashankar, chairman, KPA, CN Natraj, well-known coffee expert and chairman, Upasi, Coffee Committee, IJJ Rebello besides other speakers.

Besides discussing the outlook on coffee-Indian and global situation, interesting papers will be presented on various subjects including the role of solar and other renewable energy in coffee plantations and on the ISO 14040 for coffee enterprises. Besides a presentation will also be made on the developments at the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) meeting held recently in London during September.

The chairman, Spices Board, V Jayashankar along with Koshy John of the Spices Board would touch upon the current scenario of spices in the country besides presenting a paper on inter-cropping of pepper and various subsidies.

Upasi officials said that the conference will mainly focus on the coffee sector and will look into various related issues such as increasing domestic consumption of coffee, quality and will also deliberate on exports and the prevailing trends in the international coffee sector.

The vice-chairman, Coffee Board, Bose Mandanna, who also heads the sub-committee of the Coffee Board, had participated in the ICO meeting and will be discussing in detail the developments at the meeting. It may be mentioned here that the Coffee Board has approached the ICO for a $7.5 million funding for the board's ambitious programme of promoting domestic coffee consumption. ICO has already launched similar programme in Russia and China.

The domestic coffee industry, reeling under an unprecedented fall in international prices, proposes to expand the domestic consumption which has been stagnant at 50,000 tonnes. This is in contrast to the coffee production which is expected to cross the 3,00,000 tonnes by the end of the century. Mandanna will deliberate upon all these issues at length during the conference.

The given spices scenario indicates that despite a 7 per cent decline in quantity of spices exported during the first four months, the value of exports during this period has gone up by 12 per cent. Thanks to the overall low production which had resulted in high prices.

Discussions on the spices front, during the conference, would mainly be focussed on inter-cropping aspects.