Hope for coffee cultivation in Hamirpur

Dinesh Kanwar

Hamirpur, May 7

This is for the first time that coffee plants have bloomed in the district, bringing hope for farmers in the area. 

Exotic coffee plants that are hardly three-year-old have bloomed in a small kitchen garden of RS Kanwar, a retired principal and plant lover in the town. He said coffee plants of the arabica variety were supplied by the Agriculture Department about three years ago to check the growth and outcome of the coffee plantation here. 

He said of 200 plants, about 50 bloomed this year. He said after flowering on the plants, he tried to contact tea and coffee experts at the university but no one responded.

He said flowering was repeating every week and he was hopeful the coffee bean would develop.

Dr Vinod Sharma, Deputy Director, Agriculture, said it was a good sign that coffee plants had bloomed and if the cherries would be of good quality, it could bring the coffee cultivation to this region.

Coffee plants need plenty of rain to grow and temperature for the arabica variety should be 15°C to 24°C and for the robusta variety, it is 24°C to 30°C as coffee is extremely vulnerable to frost. 

A coffee expert said the tree of arabica bore fruits after three to five years and would produce cherries for about 30 years. An  average coffee tree produces 5 kg of coffee cherries per year.

DS Kanwar, tea expert and technical officer of CSK Agriculture University, said coffee plants that were supplied three years ago had bloomed in Hamirpur, Mandi, Kangra,  Bilaspur and Una. He said the arabica variety of coffee is suitable for the area and after receiving a positive response, the university had decided to give more plants to progressive farmers.