Cooperative begins coffee production

By Our Correspondent,Parbat, Feb. 12: A coffee producer cooperative in Parbat has started processing and selling coffee powder in the market. Since the coffee produced in the district could not get a good market, the cooperative started producing and selling coffee powder. Farmers also started getting good price of the coffee due to the involvement of the cooperative in coffee processing.

Organic Coffee Cooperative has started selling coffee under Parbat Coffee and Dhaulagiri Coffee brands. When selling the coffee beans, it is not possible to get the required amount and sometimes foreigners used to send back the coffee to the sellers because it used to be of low quality.

The coffee produced in Parbat is claimed to be the best in the country and it used to be exported to Europe, Japan and Korea. Bhawani Prasad Sharma, the manager of the cooperative, said that sometimes foreigners refused to take the product for no reason creating several hurdles for the export. It was the reason the cooperative initiated the production of dust coffee in the district seeking better positions in the marketplace. 

Sharma further said farmers used to buy the fresh beans produced in the district and district coffee cooperative used to collect and export them abroad. "But we have to face various problems in export and started selling coffee powder instead ," he added. 

To make the products of the district known in the national and international markets, selling powdered coffee has been started, Sharma said. 

According to him, the coffee of the district was started to be sold in the local market as well as in various fairs and festivals. Coffee dust prepared in the district is being purchased by star hotels, gift-shops and cafes in Pokhara, Kathmandu, Baglung and Parbat. 

More than 20 metric tonnes of coffee is produced annually in this district. Earlier, the coffee produced by the farmers used to be purchased by the District Coffee Cooperative and sold to various exporting companies. From this, coffer worth more than 10 million rupees is coming into the district every year.

Until a few years ago, the coffee produced in different villages of the district used to be wasted. Now, the coffee produced began to be exported to the local market as well as to the foreign market, and the farmers have also started getting good prices. 

According to the cooperative, 17 tonnes of coffee was exported last year alone. Currently, coffee cultivation is being done in 35 wards of the district. New farmers have started commercial coffee cultivation in most places of the district. However, the old farmers say they are drying up the plants because they cannot get a good price. 

Sharma said the coffee produced should get a good market due to the suitable geography and climate, but there is a problem in marketing because the promotion cannot be done even at the local level. He also said coffee has been cultivated commercially using organic technology at altitudes ranging from 1,000 to 1,700 metres in the mountain district. To maintain the quality of coffee, proper planting, suitable soil, land management as well as processing, storage and collective knowledge are the most important.