What began as a legislative push to introduce coffee cultivation in Nagaland in 1981 has, in Khar Village, turned into one of the state’s rare long-term agricultural success stories.
Today, Khar Village produces more than four tonnes of Arabica coffee annually through 43 growers, generating an estimated Rs 14–15 lakh in revenue and sustaining a legacy that survived policy withdrawal, weak market systems, and decades of uncertainty.
According to Khar Coffee Growers Secretary Zoang Walling, all coffee cultivated in the village is Arabica.
“The coffees grown in Khar Village are all Arabica. We now have 43 growers in total,” Walling said.
Walling said that during the 2025-26 season, Khar sold 3,086 kilograms of parchment coffee at Rs 420 per kilogram, while an additional 410 kilograms were sold to LRD, taking the village’s total production to over 4,000 kilograms.
For Khar, coffee has become both livelihood and legacy.
M Nokchen, now 81 and regarded locally as Nagaland’s highest individual coffee grower with around three hectares under cultivation, recalled that Khar’s coffee journey began when, during the tenure of then MLA Imkongliba, it was decided in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly that the state would cultivate coffee.
“All Nokyu Wallingers came together and farmed as a community. It was called Nokyu Farm,” Nokchen said, adding that the Nokyu, a sub-clan under Walling, began coffee farming in 1981, while he started his private farm in 1982.
For the first four to five years, government support sustained the initiative by providing saplings, subsidy and trainings. But once that support ended, many abandoned the crop.
“Everyone gave up,” Nokchen recalled.
Khar, however, did not.
Nokchen said only one other farmer continued alongside him, while many others lost interest due to the absence of a reliable market.
“There was no proper market, and people were not interested,” he told this newspaper.
According to Nokchen, once government support ceased, the remaining private farmers decided to divide the community farm among themselves to create individual responsibility.
“We divided the farm among ourselves because if it became each person’s own farm, they would take better care of it,” he said.
Even then, coffee farming in Khar faced years of neglect due to weak marketing systems. Nokchen said for nearly four to five years, poor market access discouraged growers.
He recalled that the farmer who was with him transported their produce to Mokokchung and submitted it to the Coffee Board. However, the payment structure itself became another challenge.
“The Coffee Board would first pay only 50 percent, and the final payment came much later, not at once,” Nokchen said, adding that some farmers had to wait up to two years for complete payment after selling their produce.
For subsistence farmers surviving hand to mouth, such delayed returns made coffee cultivation unsustainable for many.
“That is why many neglected coffee farming,” he said.
Despite these setbacks, Khar endured while several nearby villages that had also begun coffee cultivation, including Changki, Chungliyimsen, Mongchen, and Dibuia, eventually stopped.
Today, Nokchen said the situation has dramatically changed.
“Now people are competing to buy coffee from us,” he said.
Over the years, Khar’s coffee has reached buyers in South India, Meghalaya, and even South Africa. This year, he added, their coffee was sold to an Angami buyer from Nagaland.
Village Council Chairman C Limatoshi said Khar’s reputation has now created direct market demand.
“Those few households that grow coffee do not even have to take it out to sell, buyers come directly to the village looking for it,” Limatoshi said.
He believes Khar’s future could be even greater if younger generations expand cultivation further uphill.
“If the youngsters work harder and plant more coffee on the upper side of the village, Khar could become one of India’s highest-producing coffee villages,” he said.