Chen Jiahua, a farmer in Nanping town of Pu’er City in Southwest China’s Yunnan province, drinks tea, not coffee – but coffee is far more important to him. It is his livelihood.
It has become a new way of life for him and his family: The red coffee berries flourishing on his 20-mu (1.3 hectare) parcel of land, the novel agricultural techniques and available hi-tech that allows him to check coffee prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange using his cellphone.
His coffee field up in the hills not far from his home will have a good harvest this year. The decision he made 17 years ago to become a coffee grower now brings him some 80,000 yuan in profit each year, a good income for a farmer in this underdeveloped mountainous region. [Full Text]
[Image: Nestle’s agricultural service chief in Yunnan Wouter De Smet illustrates coffee growing to Chinese students, via chinadaily.com.cn]