Introduction to the development of planted varieties industry in Myanmar coffee producing areas in Asian countries

In Asia, there are many coffee producing countries, such as Laos, Indonesia, East Timor, Thailand, China and Myanmar.

Myanmar (Myanmar)

The Union of Myanmar (The Republic of the Union of Myanmar) is a Southeast Asian country with a land area of 676578 square kilometers, bordering the Sea of Myanmar in the southwest, India and Bangladesh in the northwest, China in the northeast and Thailand and Laos in the southeast.

The Burmese flag is rectangular and consists of yellow, green and red stripes of the same width from top to bottom. In the middle of the flag is a big white five-pointed star, covering the tricolor horizontal band and pointing upward. Among them, yellow represents unity, wisdom, joy and close unity of all nations, while green represents a country with fertile, harmonious, peaceful and green land, red represents bravery and decisiveness, and white five-pointed stars represent purity, integrity, friendliness and strength.

Myanmar is a land and sea country with a coastline of 3200 km, high in the north and low in the south, surrounded by mountains in the north, west and east, high mountains in the north, Naga hills and Rokai mountains in the west, and Shan plateau in the east. Kaikabo Peak, near the Chinese border, is the highest peak in the country at 5881 meters above sea level. Between the western mountains and the eastern plateau is the alluvial plain of the Irrawaddy River, which is low and flat.

Myanmar has a tropical monsoon climate, most of the land is located in the tropics south of the Tropic of Cancer, and a small part of it is located in the subtropics north of the Tropic of Cancer. It is hot and humid in summer, rainy from June to September, and dry and mild from December to April in winter. the topography, hills, valleys and mountains, coupled with hot days and cool nights, have a good ecological environment and few natural disasters. it creates ideal conditions for coffee cultivation.

Coffee producing area

In the late 19th century, British colonists invaded and controlled the country, and in the 1930s, Catholic missionaries brought coffee to Shan State in northern Myanmar and began to grow coffee. The coffee industry really began to develop in the 1980s when the local government, in cooperation with the United Nations, launched a project aimed at replacing illicit opium poppy production with coffee trees (for opium).

Most of the coffee produced in Shan State is grown by small farmers, most of whom grow less than one hectare. About 80 per cent of the coffee grown is Arabica coffee for export, while 20 per cent grows robusta, mostly for self-sale. Common varieties include Caturra Kaddura, Catimor Katim, Bourbon bourbon, Typica tin pickup, S795 and SL34. The harvested fruit will be picked and sorted and sent to the processing station for processing.

The cultivation of Burmese coffee is mainly concentrated in Naoqiu area of Shan State (Shan State) Province, Yeran area, Bowo area and Bin Wulun area of Mandalay Province. Coffee is also being grown in Chin, Bago, Dandangji and Bowo.

Shan State (Shan State): a state in northern Myanmar bordering Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. It is also the largest and most populous state in Myanmar. The area is largely surrounded by the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and has one of the longest rivers in Asia, the Salween River, and coffee is grown at an altitude of between 800 and 1800 meters.

Mandalay province (Mandalay): located in central Myanmar, the province is a collection of plateau mountains, plains and hilly woodlands for 1.1 provinces, with a diverse climate and fertile soil provided by extinct volcanoes, making it ideal for agricultural cultivation, with coffee grown mostly between 9-2000 meters above sea level.

Present situation of coffee industry

At present, Myanmar is constantly developing the coffee industry, expanding the coffee planting base of 279000 acres (about 170000 mu) in 2024, and there are plans to expand the planting area of coffee in Myanmar to 300000 acres (about 1.82 million mu) in the future. and it will bring a significant increase to the local coffee production five years later.