Naga coffee growers encouraged to take up large scale production

Neiba Kronu with Pieter Vermeulen and Dr Menuosietuo Tseikha during interaction with media persons held in Kohima. (Morung Photo)
 

Our Correspondent
Kohima | March 5

Dr Pieter Vermeulen, a coffee expert from South Africa is promoting Nagaland coffee by encouraging Naga coffee growers for large scale production.

Encouraging Naga farmers to take up coffee plantation, he said “Market is there. They will find international price.”
He first landed Nagaland in 2016 and after visiting some coffee farms, he measured Nagaland coffee as “very unique.”

What make Nagaland coffee unique is that it is growing in the jungle and natural forest, which gives different flavor,  said Dr.Vermeulen while talking to media persons here at Hotel Vivor in the presence of Nagaland’s planning & coordination, land revenue and parliamentary affairs minister Neiba Kronu and Kohima district project director Dr. Menuosietuo Tseikha of land resources department.

It may be recalled that some years ago, MoU have been signed between the Department of Land Resources, Nagaland, and Noble Cause, a South African company for development of coffee in Nagaland.

So far 27.50 MT of coffee from Nagaland was exported to South Africa.

On Honey, Dr Vermeulen said that honey is getting scarce around the world because of climate change,
If there is enough production, we can export honey as well, he said.

 
Nagaland produces 
Grade A & B coffee
Kronu said that he had surveyed South East Asia market as well as American market to see “what we can give to others and what we can take from others.”

He said that Nagaland can give coffee and honey to the world and the state can be called as the “land of “coffee and honey.”

Kronu informed that that Nagaland produces Grade A and B coffee or “Specialty Coffee,” which is the finest coffee.
With this, he said that there is no problem to market coffee, adding that coffee has huge demand in South Africa and European countries and large scale production of coffee can boost the state’s economy.

Now, the coffee growers must take advantage of the market linkages and go for large scale production, he said.

Nagaland coffee has unique taste
 

Nagaland coffee has unique taste and it is among the best coffee produced in the world, said Dr Pieter Vermeulen.
Vermeulen, who has been working together with the State’s Land Resources Department as technical advisor, opined that being grown in the natural forest, Nagaland coffee has different flavours because of the different varieties of trees and also the organic nature.

Brazil is the biggest producer of coffee in the world, but it does not have the exceptional taste, whereas Naga coffee does, said Vermeulen.

Coffee brings sustainable development, he said while elaborating that people in the world are conscious of climate change and they don’t want destruction of the nature for plantations. Coffee plantation in Nagaland is not harming the nature as it is grown in the natural forest covers, he said.

He also acknowledged that the State government through its Land Resources Department is supporting coffee plantation, without which it would be difficult to move ahead.

Having travelled to all the coffee farms in Mon, Zunheboto, Mokokchung, Kohima and Wokha, he said Nagaland has a very unique (coffee) product with beautiful story but the need of the hour is quality and quantity.

In this, he encouraged Naga farmers to take up coffee plantation while asserting that coffee will give sustainable income for more than 35 years from the time of first harvest.

It will also provide employment avenues to the educated unemployed.

Coffee production worldwide is going down, Dr. Vermeulen said adding Nagaland as a coffee producing area is coming up at the right time as the demand of coffee is growing very high. 
(Source: PTI)