July 3: The culture of drinking coffee in Nepal is increasing. However, because there is not enough coffee production in the country, coffee worth millions of rupees is being imported every year. Experts in this field say that the number of cafes, restaurants and coffee culture in Nepal has increased, so the domestic production has not been able to meet the demand for coffee.

The climate of Nepal is considered good for coffee cultivation. However, as the production is not able to meet the demand, there is still a lot of imports. Even though coffee cultivation started in 1995, Nepal has not been able to become self-sufficient in coffee.

According to the National Tea and Coffee Development Board, coffee is grown in 44 mid-hills districts of Nepal. According to the board, 31,389 farmers are involved in this profession.

Nepal produced 354.9 metric tons of green bean coffee in 3,346 hectares of land during the last fiscal year. The data of the last 5 years show that there has been a significant decrease in coffee production. In the fiscal year (FY) 2071/72, a total of 463.58 metric tons of coffee was produced in Nepal, but it has decreased to 354.9 metric tons in the fiscal year 2078/79. Coffee production has decreased by 23 percent in eight years.

According to the data of the Department of Customs, in the 11 months of the current fiscal year, the country imported coffee worth Rs 312.77 million. In the same period last year, coffee worth Rs 115.7 million was imported. As the production in the country is not encouraging, the import of coffee has increased by 70 percent and the price has increased by 170 percent.

If we look at the data of the last eight years, it seems that the import of coffee has increased a lot. In the FY 2071/72, altogether 66 metric tons of coffee was imported, and in the year 2078/79, it increased to 279 metric tons. Compared to the year 2071/72, the import has increased by 322 percent in the year 2078/79.

Chandra Puri, Agricultural Development Officer of the National Tea and Coffee Development Board, says that the demand for coffee in Nepal is high. However, the country is forced to import coffee due to lack of production.