Our Correspondent
Kohima, November 11
If everything goes fine, the day is nearing when one will be able to have made in Nagaland coffee as the Department of Land Resources (DoLR) with the support and assistance of Coffee Board of India has commenced training on coffee cultivation in the state. Initially, the ambitious project will be for selected villages under Kohima District, including Kohima Village, Rüsoma and Sechu-Zubza and farmers from these villages were given one-day training by DoLR in association with Coffee Board of India (CBI) at Ura Academy Hall here today.
Senior liaison officer of CBI, Partha Pratim Choudhury the climatic conditions of Nagaland is suitable to grow coffee, because of which CBI under Ministry of Commerce & Industry, GoI is focusing to invest on coffee plantation initially at Kohima district. He assured to promote the farmers with every amenity available under the board and also assured them to take care of marketing.
Delivering keynote address, District Project Officer, DoLR Kohima, Dr. Menuosietuo Tseikha said many villages in Nagaland possess ideal climatic conditions to cultivate coffee. He said the purpose of the programme training was to train farmers as to how to cultivate coffee and get high yield.
The training is an opportunity for the farmers to know the systematic plantation of coffee from the researchers, he added.
Joint Director & Supervisory Officer, DoLR Renben Jami said that many people looks upon Nagaland as consumer state and so we should become a producer state. He said Nagaland is blessed with so many beautiful favourable climatic conditions to grow and cultivate.
Jami said, “We do not want to take up anything which will not bring about economic changes. The standard of living is to be improved, there has to be some economic activities, which we will prospect.”
He also revealed that after a gap of 20 years, the department has agreed to go ahead with the cultivation of coffee as the Coffee Board of India has assured to assist the farmers in plantation and marketing. He encouraged the farmers to come forward to make Kohima district a coffee district.
