Kalimpong: Coffee all set to invade the land of tea

Darjeeling: Coffee is all set to invade the land synonymous with tea. Darjeeling Hills with Kalimpong as part of the district earlier has been synonymous with tea globally. Now efforts are on to establish the brand “Kalimpong Coffee” with coffee being promoted as a suitable cash crop in different areas of the district.

Amid efforts by both government and private players to promote Kalimpong as a coffee hub, the ‘Directorate of Cinchona and Other Medicinal Plants’ under the department of Food Processing Industries and Horticulture, Government of West Bengal has taken up ‘cultivation of coffee in farmers field as a farmer outreach programme’ to establish the brand ‘Kalimpong Coffee.’

“We are encouraging farmers to take up coffee cultivation in Kalimpong. The results are very positive and there is great demand for Kalimpong coffee. We have not been able to meet up with the demand. We are providing all technical knowhow and support to farmers and even buying the coffee cherries from them. We have our own coffee processing units. The Kalimpong coffee beans are packed and sold at Biswa Bangla outlets as Kalimpong Filter Coffee, Arabica, ” stated Dr Samuel Rai, Director, Cinchona while talking to Millennium Post.

Recently, the Cinchona Directorate had distributed 81,000 seedlings among 178 farmers from 13 Gram Panchayat areas of the Kalimpong district. The initiative started in 2018 with around 1193 farmers being brought under this project.

The coffee plants begin fruiting from the third year onwards. In the 6th year, the annual yield from each plant is about 5 kg. “Kalimpong has always had an agrarian economy but people are moving away from agriculture. With the Cinchona Directorate taking up this initiative, we found it an excellent opportunity to use fallow land. Along with distributing the seedling, we also sensitised the farmers. Now the farmers are selling the coffee cherries to the cinchona directorate or to private buyers. In future, we could set up our own processing unit here,” added Roshan Dahal, Karmadakshya, Krishi , Sech O Sammonyay Stahi Samity, Kalimpong 1 Panchayat Samity.

The farmers are satisfied too. “We were given Arabica seedlings in 2018-2019 brought from Bangalore by the Cinchona Directorate. I cultivate coffee in around half an acre of fallow land and my yield is around 100 kg of cherries.

I get a price of around Rs 40 to Rs. 60 per kg. In Kalimpong, the coffee is organic. Many farmers are taking up coffee cultivation here,” stated Arjun Rai, a farmer from Sangsey.

“The quality of the coffee being grown in Kalimpong and Darjeeling is excellent as it is high elevation, shade grown, speciality coffee. The only problem is that production is too little. Indian coffee is doing great in the world market and it is an excellent opportunity for the Darjeeling Hills to join in,” stated Dorjee Wangchuk, Owner of Himalayan Coffee, a reputed chain.