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MOKOKCHUNG — Advisor of Water Resources, Tongpang Ozukum, stated that the state government along with Land Resources department, which is the nodal agency, are serious in promoting coffee farming in Nagaland.
The advisor stated this during a one-day training on pre-post harvest coffee harvesting, organised by Organic Coffee Luyimer, in collaboration with Coffee Board of India, at coffee farm in Mongsenyimti village under Mokokchung district on October 13.
“I was told by some Land Resources officials that even this year a huge amount has been put up under the Prime Minister's Development Initiative for North Eastern Region (PM-DevINE). If the department gets the fund allocation, I believe they would do a lot of work to help the coffee farmers,” he said.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]Acknowledging that coffee farming is not easy, he encouraged the interested farmers to take up the profession seriously.
Resource person from the Coffee Board of India, Jayanta Ghosh, who is also the deputy director (extension) of Coffee Board, Jorhat, has termed Nagaland coffee as ‘excellent.’ He advised the farmers to be equipped with training facilities and knowledge on coffee cultivation.
He was of the opinion that the growers need to know more about the cultivation practices saying, “there is ample scope because there are a lot of outside traders coming to purchase the coffee from Nagaland and the entire Northeastern region.”
Considering that the high prospect of coffee in future, he urged the department concerned to provide technical knowledge to the farmers.
He recalled that Nagaland Plantation Development Corporation was the pioneer in taking up coffee in the state but could not succeed. He added that in 2015-16, the department of Land Resources came forward as the nodal department to assist the Coffee Board and encouraged farmers to take up coffee in the state.
He said the current situation of coffee in Nagaland is good because of the alleviation (450-1000 meters) where Arebica coffee is one of the important crops. He added that Arebica coffee has higher demand in the international market and could fetch better price than Robusta coffee.
He further stated that incentive and subsidy from the state government would largely benefit the farmers as coffee farming is not easy.
The chief information commissioner, I Meyionen Jamir, who hosted the training, suggested that educated people should take up coffee farming because it involves full of technicalities to develop the farm in different stages.
“Weed control, white stem borer infestation, rejuvenation of soil and shades for the coffee plant were new for us apart from selection of the varieties of coffee species,” he said.
He, however, expressed optimism that if the coffee quality is good, there would be no problem for marketing.
L Temsu, assistant inspector of Land Resources department, Mokokchung, informed that the department has covered approximately 550 hectares of coffee plantation in the district and has sold around eight tonnes of coffee in 2022. He informed that the farmers are interested in taking up coffee since it is a profitable commodity. Besides, he stated that both the department of Land Resources and Coffee Board of India are providing technical guidance to the farmers.
The department of Land Resources, Mokokchung, donated a coffee pulping machine to the coffee farmers of Mongsenyimti village during the programme.
In the technical session, Jayanta Ghosh, demonstrated both field and theory classes to the farmers.