Coffee from CHT to be soon in local mkts

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RANGAMATI, Aug 11 (BSS): Processed coffee produced in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) will be available in the local markets within a very short time.

Mac Foundation Managing Director Naim Mahmood said: "We are expecting to start marketing of 50 gram bottle coffee within a month if official formalities with the BSTI and other government organisations are okayed." Mac Foundation is responsible to collect raw coffee from the farmers at CHT and distribute it in the market after proper processing. Coffee was being cultivated in CHT under Orange and Mixed Fruit Project.

Mac Foundation has come forward for processing coffee seeds and marketing those following a report published in different newspapers on coffee cultivation in the CHT, Md. Shafiqul Islam, Project Director of Orange and Mixed Fruit project said.

A total of 400 coffee orchards have been raised in three hill districts since the project was launched. Nearly 100 farmers are now producing coffee and farmers are very happy about their achievement, the project director said.