Grow for land, not for love: Why Pyin Oo Lwin Is far from being Myanmar's coffee capital
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Hsu/ Pearl (NP News) - Nov 4
A coffee business owner told The Statesman that Pyin Oo Lwin remains far from being Myanmar's Coffee Capital, largely because many growers cultivate merely to prevent land confiscation rather than to genuinely develop production.
The government designated project lands for coffee-related enterprises in the Pyin Oo Lwin area of Mandalay Region; however, many landholders have not implemented real production efforts, a stagnation caused by factors such as poor coffee prices and various challenges.
“In Pyin Oo Lwin, there are about ten thousand acres of coffee plantations, but only around five thousand acres are thriving,” said the business owner. “If the other five thousand acres were properly cultivated, this region could truly become the Coffee Capital. However, many landholders have abandoned their coffee farms. Some current cultivators are not the original owners but tenants or caretakers. The main issue is the lack of systematic management. With landowners leaving farms idle, coffee production remains low, and abandoned farms have become breeding grounds for crop diseases. Some owners have no one to manage their land, while others have simply lost interest.”
The business owner also noted that the government's practice of reclaiming underutilized land has prompted many landholders to grow crops only to avoid losing their property, a situation that ultimately slows Pyin Oo Lwin’s development as a true coffee hub.
“Land confiscations are already happening. Some people just plant a few crops to show they’re using the land so it won’t be taken back. Many don’t have real passion for coffee—they plant for show and then abandon it. We need to find solutions for these cases and figure out how to encourage proper cultivation. We can’t just force them, but with the current coffee prices, it’s actually worth doing seriously. Still, I’d say we’re far from becoming a true Coffee Capital because large-scale production and quality improvement are still lacking. More than half of those farming in Pyin Oo Lwin are doing so only to avoid confiscation of land. The real coffee producers genuinely want to see Pyin Oo Lwin recognized as the Coffee Capital,” he added.
Given the current good prices in both domestic and international coffee markets, the business owner urged farmland owners in Pyin Oo Lwin to systematically cultivate and produce coffee so the city can earn its reputation as Myanmar’s Coffee Capital. –