Govt fixes support price of coffee targeting farmers

Kathmandu, November 16

Nepal Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB) — the specialised government body for promotion and development of tea and coffee — today fixed the support price of coffee for the ongoing fiscal.

The support price of coffee was determined just a day before the National Coffee Day, which falls on November 17.

NTCDB has fixed the support price of the product in various stages of processing.

As per the board, price of Fresh Cherry ‘A’ grade and ‘B’ grade coffee has been set at Rs 83 per kg and Rs 78 per kg, respectively. Similarly, the support price of Dry Cherry ‘A’ grade coffee has been fixed at Rs 140 per kg. The support price of Dry Cherry ‘B’ grade coffee and ‘C’ grade coffee has been set at Rs 100 per kg and Rs 40 per kg, respectively. Dry Cherry is produced through traditional method of drying coffee.

Likewise, NTCDB has fixed Rs 415 per kg for Parchment ‘A’ grade coffee and Rs 400 per kg for Parchment ‘B’ grade coffee. Parchment coffee is produced through high-tech quality pulping equipment.

However, prices of all these coffee varieties for the ongoing fiscal year are only the continuation of the price fixed for the previous fiscal year. NTCDB has said that the price was unchanged as there has been no significant change in the production cost of coffee in the last one year.

“We have been fixing the support price of coffee every year to ensure that farmers get a reasonable price for their product. Coffee is one of the major exportable products of Nepal and its promotion in the global market can play a significant role in economic prosperity of the country,” said Sheshkanta Gautam, executive director of NTCDB.

As per the statistics maintained by NTCDB, 466 metric tonnes of coffee has been produced in the country this year — an increment of seven per cent. According to the board, 434 metric tonnes of coffee was produced in Nepal in the previous fiscal year.

As per Gautam, NTCDB and District Agriculture Offices have been running coffee promotion programmes in different districts encouraging farmers to begin commercial coffee production and use technologies. “The increase in coffee plantation area across the country also boosted production of coffee this year,” said Gautam.

According to the board, coffee had been planted across 2,646 hectare of land in the country in 2017-18 while the crop was planted on 2,618 hectares of land in the previous year.

As per government statistics, Nepal had exported 95 metric tonnes of coffee worth Rs 84 million in 2016-17. However, Nepal also imported coffee worth Rs 50 million in the same year.