A new coffee variety will soon be introduced in Taita Taveta county. Batian is set to be introduced in the region by agriculturalists in the county, who have been working in collaboration with experts from the Coffee Research Foundation. According to Taita Agricultural Training Centre principal Bernard Mwololo, plans are underway to establish a coffee demonstration plot at the centre to educate local farmers on the new cash crop variety.
Speaking during a farmers field day this week, Mwololo said research studies conducted in the region have proved the high quality coffee variety is suitable for the area. «We hope that the introduction of Batian in this region will improve the communities livelihoods,» he said adding that it will also change the fortunes of coffee farming in the country and the coffee industry in general.
He said the new variety is capable of resisting a number of coffee diseases that other coffee varieties cannot. «This is the newest variety of coffee in the country and is capable of resisting a number of coffee diseases that other varieties cannot,» he said. Mwololo added that the soils in the region are favorable to coffee cash crop farming. «We are optimistic that the introduction of Batian in Taita hills is bound to rekindle the once vibrant coffee industry in the region,» he said.
He called on local farmers to embrace the new coffee variety in the region by planting it in their farms. «Researchers have established that this coffee variety has the potential to do better than Ruiru 11, which is the most widely grown in Kenya currently,» he said. Taita hills was once a leading producer of coffee.
Source: allafrica.com/stories/201208180577.html
