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Showing posts with label samtse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label samtse. Show all posts

Mar 28, 2011

Bhutan may not have to import coffee

Bhutan may not have to import coffee for long. We may soon be able to grow and produce our own coffee. It is possible. In fact, it is already being done in Hangey village in Samtse.

A few years ago, a few farmers here started cultivating coffee on trial basis. The trail was a success. The area, they have found, is favourable for coffee cultivation. Now a business firm is already planning on starting a plantation.

Deo Dikshit, the consultant, said “we grew different varieties of Arabica. It is the best coffee in the world.”

The firm will grow coffee in Hangay Kalamati and Sasboty in Sibsu on 300 acres of land leased from the government. It will soon be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Agriculture to start commercial production on a public private partnership.

“We are hoping to start by May or June, as soon as we complete all the formalities.”

It takes about four years for the coffee plants to start bearing fruit. The firm also plans to set up a production factory and export the coffee abroad.

“We hope to export to Europe, North America, Japan, Singapore and other coffee consuming countries and create a brand name for Bhutan,” said Deo Dikshit.

The firm has employed 16 farmers to work on the nursery. It plans to employ more once work on the plantation begins.

Apr 9, 2009

14. Samtse

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Historically, Samstse was sparsely populated as the mountain-dwelling Bhutanese considered the low-lying district to be prone to tropical disease. During the early 20th century the district experienced a large influx of Nepalese who were invited to the area to assist in forest-clearing. Overall the district population has recently been increasing, and there presently is a housing shortage in Samtse as reported by Kuensel.

Samste is home to the Lhopu people, a little-studied ethnic group of approximately 1000 persons. The Bhutanese believe them to be the aboriginals who predated the Tibetan migration from the north. The Lhopus are noted for their animistic religious beliefs, their practice of marrying cross-cousins, and their unique burial customs.