MANOKWARI, West Papua, Indonesia – The provincial administration of West Papua is opening 20 hectares of lands for coffee plantation in the regency of Pegunungan Arfak this year.
“We are preparing 35,000 arabica coffee seedlings to be grown in farmers lands in the district of Testega,” head of the regional plantation service Agus Wali said here on Wednesday.
He said in the beginning the seedlings were to be brought in from the Jember Plantation Research Center in East Java, but it is feared that seedlings from Jember would not grow well in the mountainous area of Pegunungan Arfak.
Pegunungan Arfak is 2000 meters above the sea level, therefore, seedlings from Jember would need time for adjustment to the cold climate of that area unlike seedlings from Wamena which has almost the same climate with Pegunungan Arfak, he said.
“Therefore, the plantation service is seeking to procure the seedlings from Wamena, where seedlings are being grown,” he said.(
