"Coffee production this year will touch 500 tons," said Shyam Bhandari, president of the association, referring to data that NCPA recently compiled from the farmers across the country. The association has attributed the growth to favorable environment and increase in production area. [break]
Coffee this year was planted on 1,752 hectares, up by 120 hectares compared to last year. Last year, Nepal produced 401 tons of coffee. Moreover, NCPA said production would have higher, had the plantations in Lalitpur district were not affected by disease called coffee borer.
National Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB) estimates the annual demand for Nepali coffee worldwide at over 4,000 tons. But domestic consumption itself being very high, coffee producers have been able to export only about one-fourth of their total production.
"Strictly speaking, the rise in production may not make any impact on export volume. But, we can cherish the fact that it will at least bring down coffee imports," said Shyam Bhandari.
Traders like Krishna Ghimire, chairman of Highland Coffee Promotion Company, said even ordinary Nepalis who would earlier prefer instantly soluble imported coffee are demanding Nepali filter coffee, of late. This has brought down coffee imports drastically.
Bhandari echoed with Ghimire and admitted local coffee is witnessing a sharp rise in domestic demand. This has impacted the imports. According to NTCDB, Nepal had imported coffee worth Rs 84.44 million in 2009/10 while the import was worth only Rs 54.44 million in 2010/11.
Moreover, as the country is still to tap its coffee growing potential, NTCDB has unveiled a plan to expand coffee production to 2,500 hectares by the end of next fiscal year. It is also distributing 600,000 additional coffee saplings to farmers by the end of the current fiscal year.
NCPA, for its part, has announced to plant 1 million coffee saplings every year in a bid to expand total coffee production area.
The association is also working with NTCDB to register Nepali Coffee -- a collective trademark of Nepali produce -- in 10 countries including United States, Norway, European Union, Canada, Denmark, Switzerland, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. Among them, Nepali coffee is in high demand in European Union, South Korea and Japan.
"Trademark registrar in these countries are currently verifying if similar trademark (as we proposed) has already been issued to others. Once the process is complete in our favor, we anticipate the trademark to be registered in a number of countries within the next 3-4 months," said Bhandari.
Coffee is mainly produced in Syangja, Palpa, Lalitpur, Ramechhap, Ilam and Gulmi. More than 25,000 farmers are involved in coffee farming in Nepal.
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