Coffee production rises by 40pc in Nepal this year
Monday, 2 July 2007
KATHMANDU, July 1 (Xinhua): Nepal recorded a whopping 40 per cent rise this year in organic coffee production compared to last year, The Kathmandu Post reported today.
The daily quoted Raghupati Chaudhary, acting chief of National Tea and Coffee Development Board, western regional office, as saying that coffee production this year has soared to 391 tons from 278 tons of last year.
Moreover, of the total production, Nepal exported 91.5 tons of coffee to countries such as Japan, the United States, Britain and South Korea, among others this year.
"The export fetched the producers and marketers a total of 5.6 million Nepali rupees (86153.8 US dollars)," said Chaudhary, adding that Nepal had exported a mere 2.45 million rupees (37,692 dollars) worth of coffee five years ago.
According to the report, coffee is produced in 40 districts out of 75 in Nepal. Among them 11 districts of western region alone produced 163 tons of coffee this year.
A total of 12,393 farmers in the region are actively involved in coffee farming.
Farmers into coffee production, meanwhile, urged the government to extend technical cooperation, subsidy on seed and pesticide along with market development activities.
Meanwhile, more than 142,000 households in Nepal will get access to electricity with the implementation of the Nepal Micro Hydro Project for which an emission reductions purchase agreement (ERPA) was signed yesterday, local newspaper The Rising Nepal reported today.
The agreement to this effect was signed by executive director of the Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC) Govinda Raj Pokharel and Ken Ohashi, the World Bank Country Director for Nepal yesterday.
According to a press release of the World Bank, this is the second greenhouse gas emission reduction project in Nepal, executed by AEPC, under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol.
This carbon offset project complements the ongoing World Bank Power Development Project to provide increased access to electricity for people living in the rural areas. It is expected that 15,000 kw will have been installed by the year 2011. The generating capacity of these plants will vary from five to 500kw and most of the plants would be managed by the local communities.
As per the agreement, the project developer AEPC in Nepal will sell a total of 191,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in emission reductions until 2012 to the Community Development Carbon Fund, managed by the World Bank.
There is also the possibility to increase the volume of certified emission reductions by at least an additional 100,000 tons.
It is stated that installation of micro-hydro plants will take place in a phased manner until 2011.
These micro-hydro plants are being implemented through two AEPC-executed programmers, the Rural Energy Development Programme supported by the World Bank and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Energy Sector Assistance Programme.
The micro-hydro power plants will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by replacing diesel fuel used for lighting and milling. The project provides a subsidy which covers approximately 35 per cent to 55 per cent of the total investment for a plant.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Environment, Science and Technology Mahantha Thakur said that the micro-hydro power plants would help in the sustainable development of the rural areas.
He expressed happiness that the installation of the micro-hydro power plants, besides contributing to environment protection, would also reduce the greenhouse gas emission thereby bringing in foreign exchange to Nepal in terms of the carbon sale under the Clean Development Mechanism.
The daily quoted Raghupati Chaudhary, acting chief of National Tea and Coffee Development Board, western regional office, as saying that coffee production this year has soared to 391 tons from 278 tons of last year.
Moreover, of the total production, Nepal exported 91.5 tons of coffee to countries such as Japan, the United States, Britain and South Korea, among others this year.
"The export fetched the producers and marketers a total of 5.6 million Nepali rupees (86153.8 US dollars)," said Chaudhary, adding that Nepal had exported a mere 2.45 million rupees (37,692 dollars) worth of coffee five years ago.
According to the report, coffee is produced in 40 districts out of 75 in Nepal. Among them 11 districts of western region alone produced 163 tons of coffee this year.
A total of 12,393 farmers in the region are actively involved in coffee farming.
Farmers into coffee production, meanwhile, urged the government to extend technical cooperation, subsidy on seed and pesticide along with market development activities.
Meanwhile, more than 142,000 households in Nepal will get access to electricity with the implementation of the Nepal Micro Hydro Project for which an emission reductions purchase agreement (ERPA) was signed yesterday, local newspaper The Rising Nepal reported today.
The agreement to this effect was signed by executive director of the Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC) Govinda Raj Pokharel and Ken Ohashi, the World Bank Country Director for Nepal yesterday.
According to a press release of the World Bank, this is the second greenhouse gas emission reduction project in Nepal, executed by AEPC, under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol.
This carbon offset project complements the ongoing World Bank Power Development Project to provide increased access to electricity for people living in the rural areas. It is expected that 15,000 kw will have been installed by the year 2011. The generating capacity of these plants will vary from five to 500kw and most of the plants would be managed by the local communities.
As per the agreement, the project developer AEPC in Nepal will sell a total of 191,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in emission reductions until 2012 to the Community Development Carbon Fund, managed by the World Bank.
There is also the possibility to increase the volume of certified emission reductions by at least an additional 100,000 tons.
It is stated that installation of micro-hydro plants will take place in a phased manner until 2011.
These micro-hydro plants are being implemented through two AEPC-executed programmers, the Rural Energy Development Programme supported by the World Bank and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Energy Sector Assistance Programme.
The micro-hydro power plants will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by replacing diesel fuel used for lighting and milling. The project provides a subsidy which covers approximately 35 per cent to 55 per cent of the total investment for a plant.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Environment, Science and Technology Mahantha Thakur said that the micro-hydro power plants would help in the sustainable development of the rural areas.
He expressed happiness that the installation of the micro-hydro power plants, besides contributing to environment protection, would also reduce the greenhouse gas emission thereby bringing in foreign exchange to Nepal in terms of the carbon sale under the Clean Development Mechanism.