Why Plantation Crops?
Isn't it easier to just grow rice or vegetables instead of plantation crops?
Are you a tea person or a coffee fixer?
Do you like chocolate or vanilla?
Whats for dessert, Kaju Barfi or fresh fruits?
Some red wine maybe?
No matter what your favourites indulgences are, chances are high that it's a plantation crop. Plantation crops and their value-added products contribute approximately 12-15% to global agricultural trade by value. This range accounts for major crops like palm oil, coffee, tea, cocoa, rubber, sugar, cotton, and spices, with their significant role in export-driven economies.
Plantation Crop Imports:
- Palm Oil: India is the world’s largest importer of palm oil, importing ~9 million metric tons in 2023-24, valued at ~$10 billion. Palm oil alone accounts for ~56% of India’s edible oil imports, which make up a significant portion of agricultural imports.
- Cashew Nuts: India imports raw cashew nuts for processing, valued at ~$1.5-2 billion annually, as domestic production meets only ~40% of the processing industry’s demand.
- Rubber: India imports natural rubber, primarily from Southeast Asia, valued at ~$1-1.5 billion annually, due to a shortfall in domestic production (e.g., 0.85 million tonnes produced vs. 1.2 million tonnes consumed in 2022-23).
Plantation Crop Exports
According to recent data, India’s plantation crop exports reached $9.16 billion in FY 2024-25, accounting for nearly 16% of the total agricultural export basket of ~$50 billion in FY 2023-24. Spices exports alone contributes to ~$4 billion, with coffee and tea contributing close to ~$1.5 billion.
If they are so valuable and high in demand, why is the supply limited you ask?
Well for starters, it takes atleast 3-4 years for a newly established plantation to start bearing fruits. This relatively longer gestation period is one of the first barriers to enter into this trade and understandably it rules out a lot of participants.
Secondly, it takes bigger land parcels, particular climatic conditions and more skill and knowledge to run a plantation. Ever charmed by those vast, systematically organised rows of plants and trees when you visit a hill station like Coorg? Or the crafyfully balanced grape vines in Nashik? That's what we are talking about. It almost makes you feel you are in a different country, because we are not used to seeing this level of symmetry in a farm.
And last but not the least, Government procurement schemes like MSP (minimum support price), procurement by government agencies like FPO, are not available for most of the plantation crops as the government is primarily interested in securing the basic food supply like cereals and grains for its citizens.
So who is growing these Plantation crops?
Estate owners range from corporates like TATA Coffee & Tea, RPG Group, OLAM, Wilmar, CCD, to several medium to large private estate owners. Over the years they have consolidated their land bank, ventured into forward integration like sorting, grading and processing, establishing strong partnerships with local processors or investing in their own full stack capabilities. They employ skilled and semi skilled local labour to manage the lifecycle of the plantation and build on their own experiences.
Also several well to do farmers who own decent sized land parcels, in suitable micro climatic areas where a particular crop has been traditionally grown across generations. These are supported by large companies who operate on both farm inputs and output management services - providing knowledge, advisory, tools and infrastructure to maximise yield and provide access to global markets.
We fear what we don't know.
Learn more about plantation crops, management practises and associated challenges and opportunities from research publications and government backed bodies supporting education and empowerment of plantation owners.
Are plantations for me?
I am pursuing my career away from home. Can I build the plantation without full time involvement?
The biggest barrier for plantation business, whether being undertaken as a passion project or bootstrapping a future business, is the gestation period. It takes anywhere between 3-5 years for most plantations to start bearing meaningful results. These formative years will not only demand preparedness to address challenges that nature will throw at us but will also consume the major chunk of your planned investment. It's no different from building a home or starting any new venture.
This is where we come in. We take care of all aspects of on ground planning and execution at the plantation level, which doesn't require your physical presence at the native land. However your core vision for the project will drive a lot of decisions, both economic and social. Right from adopting sustainable irrigation practices, to creating a natural nutrition system for the plantation, choice of crop density, layout for the plantation are some of the decisions to be taken. Our job is to bring in the science, commerce and real life feedback of these choices to the forefront so you are taking an informed decision that orients the plantation towards your goals.
Good news is that majority of these key decisions can be evaluated and analysed at the project feasibility stage itself. Also, the plantation will live for well over 20 years and this will be a period of continuous improvement and progress. So let's stat where we are, get the basics sorted, and let the future earnings guide the onward journey.
Is my Native land suitable for Plantations?
How do I know if my land is suitable for setting up a plantation?
This is a vital criteria that will guide us whether we undertake this project or not. While earth is regenerative and every piece of land has potential to sustain growth, at times the effort is higher.
Good news is, this can be measured objectively. In fact this is one of the first steps on our journey, to understand the micro climate, measure soil fertility, soil type, soil contamination and water sources as well as the broad topography of land. The data will tell us how capital and time intensive will the process of making the soil plantation ready. In a lot of cases, where the land has not been cultivated for years, it might already be close to readiness. In other cases where pollutants have been continuously disposed on land for a long time, the journey might be arduous and not make economic sense.
Long story short, let's find out! We will help you establish this objectively before you having to make any commitment on the project.
Measure what matters
Whether is our own health or our soils health, right diagnostics tells us where we are.