Coffee Plantation in North East India

Coffee was reported to have been introduced in Cachar district of Assam during 1853. Coffee gardens were successfully established by Soil Conservation departments of Meghalaya at Umling (Ri-Bhoi District), Lumshnung (Jaintia Hills District) and Tura (West Garo Hills District) and in Assam at Haflong (N.C.Hills District) and in some pockets of Nagaland as early as 1954 on pilot cum trial basis as a measure to prevent ‘jhuming’ and consequent soil erosion. These trial plantations in this region, were laid out in different elevations from 100 meters to 1000 meters, temperature variations from 12° C in winter to 33° C in summer, soil from deep red forest to sandy clayey loam and rainfall from 1900 mm to 4000 mm with dry period between November to March. The National Commission on Agriculture (NCA) envisaged the demand for coffee by 2000 AD to be about 2 lakh tones. It was suggested that for achieving the target by 2000 AD, an additional area of about 72,000 ha would have to be brought under coffee cultivation in non-traditional areas. It is worth Mentioning that most of the additional coffee plantation area in non-traditional areas was estimated in the North Eastern Region. Encouraged by the success of pilot studies, Coffee Board proposed a perspective plan for North East during 1970’s in association with National Council for Agricultural and Economic Research (NCEAR) and assisted by North Eastern Council (NEC), surveyed the areas and identified 44,000 ha as potential areas for coffee cultivation, comprising 16,000 ha in Assam, 8,000 ha in Meghalaya and 4,000 ha each in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. These 44,000 ha areas are spread over in 322 Villages in 39 Districts of this region. All the agro-climatic conditions prevailing in the North East are suitable for commercial cultivation of coffee.

The Coffee Board has since set up their regional office in Guwahati and has also taken up other activities required for the promotion of coffee cultivation in this region. The present scenario can be watched on the following tables.

State-wise Coffee Area Statistics in NE Region (Upto March 2004)

Source : The joint director (Extn.), Coffee Board Guwahati.

Area of Coffee Covered under Ninth Plan Programme for N.E. Region

Source: Coffee Board, Sundarpur, Guwahati, Assam