Lalitpur, May 6 :

Despite the lack of necessary infrastructure, roads, electricity and technical expertise, organic coffee farming is flourishing in many remote villages of Lalitpur as a lucrative source of income.

The local farmers, who earlier cultivated only food crops, fruits and vegetables have now switched to coffee farming, which is benefitting some 500 farmers in 10 VDCs of the district. Lalitpur alone produced 25 metric tonnes of unrefined arabica coffee in fiscal year 2004-05, which is approximately 17 per cent of the total production in the country. Yanka Prasad Dahal, a resident of Thuladurlung village in Lalitpur and one of the pioneers of coffee farming, says, “Some farmers who started coffee farming gave up due to the long yield period of coffee plants.” Dahal, who started organic coffee farming in 1981, is now the vice-chairperson of the District Coffee Cooperative Association, Lalitpur. He said even though demand for organic coffee was growing, we are still dependent on primitive technologies. Moreover, none of these 10 VDCs have access to electricity and roads. “It takes the porters five hours to carry 50 kg coffee from Thuladurlung to Chandanpur VDC. And we are still dependent on manual machines to peel off coffee beans,” he added.

Production in his farm has gone up from 300 kg to 2,000 kg in two decades. At the initiative of the Lalitpur District Agriculture Development Office, coffee farming has now been extended to Malta, Ikudole, Bhukhel and Bhattedanda VDCs of the district. The Lalitpur South Electricity Cooperative has been working to supply power to these villages.

The chief coffee producers in Lalitpur district are Thuladurlung, Gimdi, Asrang, Pyutar and Ghusel villages and parts of Chandanpur village.

The farmers of 23 districts in hilly regions are engaged in organic arabica coffee farming. This variety of coffee is exported to the US, Japan, the Netherlands, and 12 other European countries, in addition to South Korea and Gulf countries. In the fiscal year 2004-05, 65 metric tonnes of coffee was exported and 35 metric tonnes was consumed in the local market.

Khem Bhandari, general secretary of Nepal Coffee Producers’ Association, said, “The government should invest in this sector and have a one-door policy to ensure its market.” An altitude of 800 m to 1,600 m is suitable for coffee farming, he said: “Many hilly regions of the country meet this criteria. Coffee farming, in turn, will also encourage people to stay in village.”