Coffee cultivation raises hopes for CHT farmers
A coffee orchard at Barpilak village in Khagrachhari. Photo: Jasim Majumder
The farmers in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) are upbeat with satisfactory harvest of coffee this year. Though any scientific plant is yet to be developed to harvest and process the coffee for marketing, the farmers are happy to have the yields in their own way of cultivation and harvest. While talking to the Daily Star some farmers in Khagrachhari expressed their satisfaction over the production and the price, which is higher than that of other crops in CHT. Farmer Mohammad Nur Hossain from Barpilak village under Ramgarh upazila in the district said he earned Tk 30 thousand from 75 kilograms of coffee last year. Nur Hossain, a farmer who got three acres of hilly land from the government at Barpilak village under Sinduchhari Union in 1980, raised a coffee orchard on his land as it was not suitable for rice cultivation. Hossain planted 200 coffee saplings that he got free of cost from Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board (CHTDB) in 1999 to promote coffee cultivation in unused and fallow lands. The coffee orchard is now paying him back, said Hossain. Sujon Chakma, a farmer in Babuchhara village in Dighinala upazila, is also very happy with the return from coffee cultivation. He got Tk 20 thousand from 50kgs of coffee products in his garden, he added. Both Hossain and Sujon said non-availability of water during the dry season is a major barrier for their farming. “Water crisis caused many coffee plants to die in the last couple of years in my orchard. The plants, however, could be saved this year following the cooperation of local Sindukchhari Army Zone Commander Lt Col Kamrul Islam who helped me with a water pump for watering the orchard," said Hossain. The CHT Development Board sources said they have distributed about 20 thousand saplings among the rehabilitated farmers in 2001 under the Tk 1288 crore rehabilitation project. Project Director Shafiqul Islam said the government rehabilitated over 450 families, including 100 Bangalee families on 1350 acres of government land in eight upazilas in the CHT since 1999. "Coffee cultivation proved most profitable for the farmers, who got about 15 hundred kilograms of coffee this year," Shafiqul said. The harvest may stand between 2,000kgs and 3,000kgs in the coming harvesting season, he expected.. He said lack of processing plant is a major problem that depriving farmers of benefits of coffee cultivation. "The farmers won't get the full benefit of the harvest unless there is a processing plant, he added. He said CHTDB should set up of a small coffee processing plant according to the yield and farmers' response in future. Referring to coffee processing plant in India, he said small processing plant can be set up at a cost of Tk 20,000 to Tk 30,000. Sub-assistant Agriculture Officer Pranab Barua told the Daily Star that a coffee plant bears fruits four to five years after plantation and the yield continues for 15 to 20 years. The fellow hilly land, hill slopes and hilltop in the CHT are suitable for coffee cultivation, he added.
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