BM Report
Bangladeshi agricultural research scientists recently developed two improved coffee varieties suitable for cultivating in the country’s three hill districts, bordering India and Myanmar.
Mahmudul Hasan, scientific officer at the Raikhali Agricultural Research Center at Kaptai in Rangamati district, said, Bari Coffee-1 and Bari Coffee-2, two varieties similar to Arabica and Robusta coffees, are being planted now in the hilly region. He expects cultivation of newly developed varieties of coffee spread all over hilly areas within the next two years.
“A new revolution in coffee cultivation will come in the country,” said Hasan. The Raikhali center has so far succeeded in developing about 19 varieties of different fruits. This time the center wants to bring revolutionary changes in the agricultural sector of the hills by inventing two new varieties of coffee.
New coffee varieties are possible to be planted in even shaded places in any hilly area, so it can be cultivated as a companion crop in various gardens.
Two new varieties of coffee plants will begin to bear fruits in three to four years and 4 to 5 kg of coffee fruits can be harvested from each tree in the beginning. Some 7 to 8 metric tons of coffee fruits can be produced per hectare, he said, adding that such coffee varieties, being companion crops, don’t not require much cultivation cost, so farmers will be benefited.
“We have become successful in planting our own coffee varieties in the hilly areas and now working to spread it at the field level. We hope that within the next one or two years we will be able to start planting this coffee in every part of the hill,” said Dr. Nizam Uddin, Chief Scientific Officer of the center.
“Climate and soil of the hills are very suitable for coffee cultivation,” said Altaf Hossain, Coordinator of the Coffee and Cashew Nut Farming in Three Mountainous Districts Project.
Officials hope that an ongoing 5-year project of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute under the Ministry of Agriculture, for cultivating coffee and cashew nuts, will bring radical change in the agricultural sector of three hill districts.
