Dehong Arabica Coffee

Dehong Arabica Coffee

　　   Dehong Arabica Coffee originally comes from Ethiopia in Africa and is one of the world’s major coffee varieties. In 1951, the cotton experimental station in Luxi, Dehong Prefecture, first introduced coffee seeds for commercial cultivation, planting and nurturing six acres of seedlings, which grew well. In 1956, the Dehong Prefectural Committee decided to vigorously develop coffee across the entire prefecture and initiated coffee planting technical training courses throughout the region, leading to widespread growth of Arabica coffee. In 1958, Dehong Prefecture established a state-level coffee production base in Mangshi, where research was carried out on coffee planting techniques and pest and disease control. Key challenges such as coffee seed selection, high-yield cultivation, and pest management were successfully addressed, allowing scientific coffee-growing methods to become widely adopted among local communities of all ethnicities. By 1960, the total coffee planting area in the prefecture had reached 15,000 mu, with a yield of over 40 tons. Dehong Arabica Coffee was processed into powdered coffee in Shanghai, packaged in tin cans, and exported to London. In 1963, at an international exhibition, Dehong Arabica Coffee was praised as a high-quality product with “rich aroma and pleasant slight acidity,” earning a reputation that could rival that of Blue Mountain coffee. By 1966, the total coffee bean output of the prefecture had exceeded 100 tons. However, due to a decline in international market prices and poor sales, combined with the impact of the Cultural Revolution, both research and production suffered severe setbacks. As a result, the production of Dehong Arabica Coffee declined sharply, and most of the previously cultivated coffee lands were left abandoned.

After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, with increasing domestic and international demand for coffee, farms and local farmers in Yingjiang, Luxi, and other areas began to actively expand the cultivation of Dehong Arabica Coffee once again, producing several tons of dried coffee beans and achieving favorable economic returns. As part of deepening rural economic reforms and adjusting industrial and product structures, the Dehong Prefectural Committee and Prefectural Government formulated strategies to leverage the advantages of the tropical zone and develop a distinctive economic path. To meet the demands of a market economy, people of all ethnic groups in Dehong Prefecture identified the development of Dehong Arabica Coffee as a key project in establishing a green industry. Currently, a large-scale, production-oriented coffee planting base has been successfully formed.