Cordillera region to rejuvenate coffee production

BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera region is seeking to revive the coffee industry by expanding the existing 7,781 hectares of coffee plantation with 3,000 hectares more under the National Greening Program (NGP).

Regional NGP focal person Imelda Cawisan said coffee planting would be included in the extension of the greening program in the Cordillera to boost coffee production.

The NGP previously implemented helped increase the number of coffee plants in the region but maintaining production in these areas has become a problem because of their remote location and their distance from villages.

Cawisan said technology is slowly being established in the locality due to the intervention of the Department of Trade and Industry and other government entities.

DTI director Myrna Pablo, who heads the national industry cluster for the coffee industry, said there has been no significant improvement in the industry since 2013.

Coffee stakeholders aim to resuscitate the coffee industry and reclaim the country’s early distinction as a major coffee producer in Asia.

In the 1800s, the Philippines was the fourth largest exporter of coffee in the world but had to halt production due to pest infection.

About 700 stakeholders of the coffee industry earlier held the 2nd Philippine Coffee Conference last month to draw up a roadmap on the industry.

In 2012, the biggest coffee producing areas in the highlands are Benguet, Mountain Province, Kalinga and Ifugao, with a total production of 5,673.21 metric tons.

Robusta accounted for 88.4 percent of the region’s coffee production while Arabica comprised 9.8 percent.

Though the demand of coffee worldwide is increasing, local farmers in the highlands are shifting to other crops like corn to sustain their daily needs.

The waiting time for production of high value crops is also shorter than coffee.