Coffee cultivation attracts East Nawalparasi farmers

Kawasoti / Jan. 31: The number of farmers cultivating coffee in the hilly villages of East Nawalparasi has started increasing. Farmers who started coffee cultivation with little investment have now started doing it commercially. Farmers said that they were attracted towards commercial coffee farming over the years as its production is getting better and the income is increasing.

Purna Singh Rana Magar, vice-chairman of Hupsekot Rural Municipality, said that farmers are now attracted towards coffee cultivation in the hilly villages of Hupsekot Rural Municipality, Dandajheri, Kotthar, Jaubari of Bulingtar Rural Municipality and Naram, Ruchanga, Babak, Dhaubadi of Baudikali Rural Municipality.

Kamala Gurung of Baudikali Rural Municipality has been cultivating coffee for four years. Gurung, who has planted around 300 coffee plants, said that she earns a good income from it. She said that this year coffee cultivation is better than last year in hilly areas and farmers are satisfied with coffee farming.

Tulisara Rana Magar of Hupsekot Rural Municipality has cultivated 200 coffee plants. Stating that the coffee can be planted in the cold areas of the hills and it was giving good income, Ranamagar said that she is planning to expand coffee farming next year.

The commercial coffee is cultivated in 11 hectares in Nawalpur district, according to the statistics of Agricultural Knowledge Centre. About 500 farmers are involved in coffee farming in the district. The per hectare production of coffee stood at 0.8 tonnes.

A two-day training has also been conducted in Kawasoti for the scientific, sustainable and commercial production and productivity of coffee in this district, which has a lot of potential for coffee cultivation. The aim of the training is to educate potential farmers about opportunities and benefits of coffee production and motivate them to engage in its farming commercially.

Dr. Badri Prasad Bastakoti, an expert from EU-Nepal Trade and Investment Programme, said that this kind of training was organised to increase the awareness of the farmers concerned to exploit the potential of coffee in Nepal.

Bhaktaraj Joshi, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, said that if the National Tea and Coffee Development Board was to advance the production enhancement programme with cooperation and coordination with the local levels, it would be easy to increase the production of Nepali coffee.

He said that the government has carried out the plans to promote exports with various concessional programmes. The coffee is cultivated in about 3,655 hectares of land in about 42 districts in Nepal. According to government statistics, around 394 tonnes of coffee was produced in the last fiscal year 2022/23. In the last fiscal year, Nepal exported 77 tonnes of coffee worth Rs. 134 million and imported 450 tonnes of coffee worth Rs. 325 million.