Binay Mishra, executive director of the board, said the plan, with an estimated budget of Rs 68 million, was mainly aimed at increasing production areas and rising productivity along with strengthening market approach of Nepali coffee through quality assurance mechanism.
"Under the strategy, we have set a target to apply and monitor improved technology in coffee farming, besides developing a necessary human resource pool for both higher production and productivity" Mishra told myrepublica.com on Wednesday.
"We will ask the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to arrange necessary resources to implement the strategy, which the board has recently approved."
Plans of enhancing knowledge about coffee production among farmers and providing better access to market to encourage them towards coffee farming have also been incorporated in the strategy.
Amid lack of mechanism for approving quality standard of Nepali coffee in international market, the board has also set a strategy to introduce special logo for Nepali coffee, along with the plan of establishing and operating quality monitoring system.
"Enhancing skill and expertise among Nepali producers to increase quality of coffee is also envisioned in the strategy," Mishra added.
Responding to the growing reports from farmers about the attack of white-stem borer -- an endemic pest in coffee plantation -- the strategy also incorporates measures to get rid of the harmful insect.
"The strategy has also envisioned a program to strengthen linkage of farmers with international donor agencies and domestic financial institutions and other concerned agencies to support farmers for garnering financial and technical supports," said Mishra.
In a bid to provide technical support to the coffee farmers, the board has initiated the process of developing technical human resources from the last fiscal year. The board has, so far, provided certificates to 29 technicians in collaboration with the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT).
"We can use those technicians to provide technical supports to coffee farmers in the days to come," said Mishra.
Coffee farming has been recorded in total 1,450 hectares of land in more than two dozen districts across the country. Nepal had exported green bean coffee worth Rs 107.8 million during the year 2007/08 fiscal.
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