TUBA, Benguet—Members of the Tuba Benguet Coffee Growers Association are optimistic about the robust growth of the coffee industry here following the rising number of farmers wanting to produce coffee.
From a membership of 35 in 2007, the group now has 129 members, with half already harvesting from their coffee plantations, said Shirley Palao-ay, TUBENGCOGA president.
The 40 hectares of coffee plantations in Tuba’s 13 barangays have an annual production of about 3.5 tons of coffee beans, sold to traders at P300 per kilo, she added.
“We are elated over the interest shown by a good number of local farmers in planting coffee in their own farms, because we believe that the coffee industry will exponentially improve in the future, primarily due to the support being extended to the industry by concerned government agencies,” Palao-ay stressed.
The overall production of the town’s coffee farmers could reach more than five tons in the next several years, when farmers who started planting this year will harvest their coffee beans.