The State Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Meyionen Jamir on Tuesday advised the Land Resources Department (LRD) of Nagaland to take more initiatives to ensure that the coffee plantation was not a failure in the state.

While addressing the four-day pre-harvest training on coffee at the Yahweh Empower Stature Agro Park, Gariphema, Meyionen remarked that many crops in the state had failed and cautioned that unless the department assisted and bailed out the coffee farmers, the initial enthusiasm for coffee plantations in Nagaland could slow down as farmers could lose interest for want of financial support.

According to a report published in the Nagaland Post, he encouraged the LRD officials by saying that the amount of hard work put into coffee cultivation would lead to a good harvest, following the instructions given by the experts.

The CIC also sought details from the department (LRD) regarding Rs 1.50 crores earmarked for coffee plantation in Nagaland by the 15th Finance Commission from the Coffee Board of India as a subsidy.

He also asked whether the department had plans to assist the farmers financially.

Meyionen also opined that imparting training to the farmers should be a regular affair and to involve more coffee growers in all the districts so that the farmers could reap maximum benefits.

He said though educated youth looked for government jobs, opportunities in the government sector had saturated. Hence, he appealed to young people to look beyond government jobs for livelihood.

Speaking on the occasion, the Managing Director of Noble Cause Company Dr Pieter Vermeulen from Cape Town, South Africa said the four-day training would include roasting coffee, training on coffee taste and aroma, enhancing flavour, visit to coffee farms, etc.

In his closing remarks, Gariphema Village Council Chairman Vibeilietuo Kets disclosed that there were about 28,000 coffee plants spread over 20 hectares of land at Gariphema. He claimed that the coffee harvest in 2021 from the cultivation was about 600 kg and hoped to harvest 1,000 kg in 2022.

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