Coffee output grew 20 percentto 482 tonnes last fiscal year

KATHMANDU, OCT 17 -

Nepal’s coffee production is estimated to have increased at least 20 percent in the last fiscal year. According to preliminary data collected by the Nepal Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB) in association with the Nepal Coffee Producers’ Association (NCPA), coffee output has reached more than 482 tonnes compared to 401 tonnes in 2010-11.

“We have collected statistics from more than 90 percent of the coffee producers so far which shows that production has grown at least 20 percent from last year,” said Prem Acharya, planning officer at the NTCDB.

Suitable weather along with increasing maturity of the coffee plants has been cited for the rise in coffee production. NCPA president Shyam Prasad Bhandari said that the growing maturity of the coffee saplings planted in the past was the main reason behind the increasing production. According to him, a coffee plant reaches maturity in three years after which up to 6 kg of coffee can be obtained from a single plant.

Of late, many local farmers have been attracted to commercial farming of Arabica coffee, popularly called green beans. Besides the NTCDB, INGOs like Helvetas, Winrock and PACT Nepal have been supporting farmers to grow and market coffee. According to the NCPA, the area under coffee cultivation reached 2,100 hectares in the last fiscal year, up from 1,752 hectares in the previous year.

Conventionally, Syangja, Palpa, Lalitpur, Ramechhap, Ilam and Gulmi are among the major coffee producing districts in the country. According to the association, a number of farmers have started commercial farming of coffee in Pyuthan, Surkhet and Jajarkot districts too from this year.

The NCPA consists of 27,000 coffee producing farmers. There are 1,470 coffee producers’ groups and 32 primary cooperatives engaged in commercial farming of agro products. Similarly, three cooperative unions in Lalitpur, Syangja and Kavrepalanchok districts are also engaged in the sector.

Demand for high-altitude Arabica in the international market outstrips supply. Europe, the US, Japan and South Korea are the major importers of Nepali coffee. According to the NCPA, there is growing demand for the product from South Korea which imported an estimated 105 tonnes of coffee last year.

Source: The Kathmandu Post