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CHT farmers eye a wonder crop

Non-perishable coffee opens up bright prospect as fair price and processing ensured

JASIM MAJUMDER, Khagrachhari
Farmers in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) are eyeing a surprise cropcoffee.
The new value added crop with export potential have opened up good prospects following facilities for processing and marketing, thanks to the efforts by CHT Development Board (CHTDB).
Many farmers had harvested the crop on limited scale in last three years but their enthusiasm was dampened as there was no process ing facility.
They did the processing in their own way, using indigenous methods. Mac Foundation, a Dhaka based company, has come forward to buy the coffee from farmers and process it in a scientific way, according to sources in CHTDB
The fanners are happy as cultiva tion of the crop is easy and prices arc good. The yield is satisfactory and the price is higher than other crops
Talking to The Daily Star, some farmers in remote areas of Khagrachhari and Bandarban said it is much more profitable than traditional crops like pineapple and other fruits, ginger and rice.
"I earned about Tk 20,000 by selling about 60 kilograms of coffee last winter. I hope I will get more this year", said Nur Hossain of Barpilak village in Ramgarh upazila in the district. Coffee harvest begins in September-October.
The company offers prices between Tk 320 and Tk 350 per kilogram, he said.
Nur Hossain is among 450 rehabilitated farmers, who got three acres of hilly land each from government.
As the lands are not suitable for rice cultivation, he had raised a mixed garden of pineapples, guava and other fruits. He also planted 200 coffee seedlings, given for free by CHTDB to promote its cultivation in2001.
Rangachula Chakma, another rehabilitated farmer in
Babuchhara village in DighinaJa upazila said he got 40 kg coffee from his garden. "All the plants are very lively now due to sufficient rain and if the weather remains favorable, my coffee plants are sure earn me much more than pineapple", hesaid.
Lalmunseean, of Munnapara in Ruma upazila in Bandarban district said he prefers coffee cultivation because it is not perishable like pineapple, guava and other fruits. He got 80 kg processed coffee last year and expects more then 200 kg this year as weather is favorable.
The CHTDB distributed coffee saplings in 2001 under a Tk 1,288 crore rehabilitation programme. Over 450 households including 100 Bangalee families have so far been rehabilitated in eight upazilas of Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban on
1350 acres of government land since 1999, said project director Md. Shafiqul Islam.
They were supplied with saplings of coffee, orange, pineapple, banana, papiya, safeda, mango (amropali) and litchi to raise mixed garden, he told this correspondent.
Among all the crops, coffee proved most profitable for farmers, he said. Shafiqul Islam said about 400 kilograms of coffee were produced in the three hill districts last year. The yield may be between 3. 000 and 4.000 kilograms in the coining harvesting season.
The region can be turned into a coffee producing area, which will change the lot of the poor people, he said. A coffee plant bears fruits four to five years after plantation . and the yield continues for 25 to 35 years, agriculture officials said. Lands in CHT are suitable for coffee cultivation, they added.