Coffee in India was started when Saint Babba Budan first smuggled Seeds from Yemen. Nuns from his hermitage first brought them to India and it was primarily a crop grown out of curiosity in people’s’ personal gardens.
In the 1800’s coffee became commercialised with the British conquest of of India. Because of the mismanagement of farms Arabica was difficult to grow and pests and leaf rust decimated crops.
Robusta became India’s prime coffee export for much of the 1800’s, hence why Robusta is exchanged in the London exchange.
