Nagaland coffee brewing export dream for Northeast

The coffee grown in Nagaland winning international recognition has triggered new hopes for commercial cultivation of the beverage crop on a wider scale in the highlands of the northeastern region. The Land Resources Department, Nagaland - the nodal department for coffee promotion and cultivation in the state - has an ambitious goal of expanding the area under coffee plantations to 30,000 hectares by 2030. The coffee grown in the state has won recognition at the third annual Aurora International Taste Challenge, which was held in South Africa, to celebrate and pay tribute to universal food quality has emboldened the department to dream bigger. Currently, the state grows coffee on about 9,832 hectares. The production is a minuscule level of 56 MT but the fact that it could export about 48% of its total production is expected to boost the confidence of the growers in the state as well as other states in the region. India grows coffee on 4.6 lakh hectares with Karnataka Kerala, Tamil Nadu accounting for 97% of total production in the country. Karnataka accounts for over 70% of the production of 3.34 lakh MT in 2020-21. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce has recommended to the Central Government to give more thrust to coffee and rubber production in the northeast region by exploring the growth potential and prospects in the states in the region. Promotion of coffee has less scope in Assam except in its hill districts and tea is grown in the state accounting for more than 50% of the country's tea production demonstrates that the climate in the state is more suitable for growing tea. There is also a genuine apprehension about the growing popularity of coffee in the state affecting local demand for tea which cannot be overlooked by stakeholders in both coffee and tea plantations. Growing coffee on high hills has multiple advantages such as beans being hard can be stored for a longer duration and the aroma of coffee brewed is strong. India exports coffee to about 88 countries. Myanmar is one export destination of Indian coffee and 408 MT valued at Rs 5.7 crore were exported to the neighbouring country in 2020-21. Being a non-traditional area of coffee plantation, the Northeast can leverage India's Act East policy to tap the coffee market in Myanmar as Nagaland and other states in the regions have geostrategic advantages to deepen trade and commerce with the neighbouring country. Bangladesh imported 865 MT of coffee from India last year and these figures when compared with a total production of only 160 MT of the total coffee produced in the Northeast also indicate the potential for expanding the area under coffee in the region. Currently, the Robusta variety is produced more (90 MT) compared to the Arabic variety (70 MT). The Arabia variety is the largest traded variety in the global coffee market and such market realities need to be kept in mind while drawing the roadmap for the expansion of coffee plantations in the region. The connectivity with ASEAN countries through Myanmar and with Bangladesh getting a big push under Act East and Neighbourhood First policies, coffee production in the region can be increased manifold to promote plantation of the cash crop for remunerative livelihood option for tribal farm families. Policy density in hill states of the region is sparse, the number of households to be dependent on coffee plantations will not be as high as dependence on tea in the plains of Assam. Official data show that coffee growers in Nagaland earn around Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh from each hectare of coffee plantation and the state has 32 farmers with more than 10 hectares of plantation and the success stories scripted by these farmers of earning more than Rs 25 to 30 lakh annually is worth replicating. The growing popularity of coffee as a beverage among new generations of the region has also pushed local consumption which allows the coffee growers and traders in the region to tap the market for the introduction of coffee grown in the region in café outlets instead of looking at the commercial viability only from the export market potential. Nagaland's success stories are expected to bolster initiatives of the Coffee Board in the region and help the board to demonstrate the enormous potential of growing the cash crop on a wider scale. States in the region supplementing the efforts of the board can help unlock the huge potential. The parliamentary panel has been emphasizing that the farming practice in the Northeast being organic by default has added advantage of fetching premium price if an organic certification for the coffee grown in the region is facilitated. State Governments in the region can play a proactive role in this regard as the Central government has been focusing on harnessing the traditional practice of organic farming in the region to diversify the country's export basket. The fresh aroma of Nagaland coffee is brewing export dreams for the region.