BAGUIO CITY—An additional 3,000 hectares will be added under an extension of the National Greening Program specifically for planting coffee, benefiting thousands of Cordillera farmers who could profit from the booming market of the commodity.
This is apart from the existing 7,781 hectares already allocated under the NGP and could boost production and revitalize the coffee industry in the region, said Imelda Cawisan, regional NGP focal person.
The program previously implemented coffee planting but could not sustain it owing to the remote location of NGP areas and their distance from the communities.
While technology is making its way into Cordillera’s hinterlands through interventions of the Department of Trade and Industry, increasing coffee production must be given more attention.
DTI Director Myrna Pablo, the national cluster manager for the coffee industry, admitted the sector is still struggling, saying that since 2013, no significant improvement has happened to this business.
Industry stakeholders could address that and other issues at the 2nd Philippine Coffee Conference on November 23 and 25 in Baguio City.
The conference will look back and revisit the wider scope of coffee industry development in the country, organizers said in a statement. The conference will also update participants on the Philippine Coffee Roadmap so they could look forward and aim for a bigger niche in the world’s coffee industry.
About 700 stakeholders, including the top coffee producers around the globe, are expected to attend the conference.
In the 1800s, the Philippines was the fourth-largest exporter of coffee in the world, but the coffee rust plague and pests slowed its production halted.
Data as of 2012 indicates the biggest coffee-producing areas in the region are Benguet, Mountain Province, Kalinga and Ifugao, with a total production of 5,673.21 metric tons.
Robusta accounts for 88.4 percent of the Cordilleras’ coffee production, while Arabica variants account for 9.8 percent.
While the demand of coffee worldwide is increasing, local farmers are shifting to other cash crops like corn to sustain their daily needs, and the wait before harvest time for corn is shorter compared to coffee.
Coffee farmers in the region said the farm-buying price of coffee beans must also be addressed to entice more farmers into planting the crop.
