Coffee picks up anew

IN THE 1990s, the Philippines produced almost all the coffee supplied in the local market. However, the price of coffee plummeted causing farmers to shift to other crops, particularly to high value crops like banana and pineapple.

As a result, the country has to import 30,000 to 35,000 metric tons annually from Vietnam and Thailand to meet the local demand, which has been pegged by the Department of Agriculture to be growing at an annual rate of five to six percent.

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"Coffee has a large market in the Philippines," Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap was quoted as saying.

Pacita U. Juan, the co-chair of the Philippine Coffee Board, said the Philippines currently has a P21 billion coffee market and consumes 65,000 metric tons of coffee. The market will reach to about P40 billion mark, if the country achieves self-sufficiency in coffee production by 2015.

Right now, the Philippines is still not self-sufficient. According to Yap, at least four million coffee plants are needed to be planted in around 40,000 hectares in the next five to seven years to fill in the gap.

The popular drink comes from an evergreen tree, which was first discovered in Ethiopia, where its red, cherry-like berries (generally containing 2 seeds per berry) was used for wine and food before A.D. 1000. Its beans are first grounded and roasted and made into a drink during the 15th century in the Arabian Peninsula. Coffee later spread throughout Europe since the 17th century.

The introduction of coffee in the Philippines could be traced back to the arrival of Spanish traders in the early 1500s. By 1880, the Philippines was the fourth largest exporter of coffee beans, and when the coffee rust hit Brazil, Africa, and Java (Indonesia), it became the only source of coffee beans around the world.

Today, the Philippines produces only 0.012 percent of the world’s coffee supply. It is grown in 22 provinces and the majority of coffee produced comes from the mountain areas of Batangas, Bukidnon, Benguet, Cavite, Kalinga, Apayao, Davao, and Claveria.

The Philippines comes second to Japan in the amount of coffee consumed in Asia. As surging demand for coffee among Filipinos continues to grow, Nestle Philippines recently announced that it is looking to invest in the country's coffee farming industry, particularly in Mindanao.

"Mindanao is an ideal place for coffee-farming because it is virtually typhoon-free," said a statement released by the company which has been helping coffee farmers in the country for more than three decades now.

"If we can only increase production in our coffee farms, it would help make our country less dependent on imported coffee," said Roy C. Alimoane, director of Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC) Foundation Inc. based in Kinuskusan, Bansalan, Davao del Sur. He adds that a coffee plant takes three years to grow. Once it matures, it bears cherries for about 50 years.

"It's not difficult for our farmers to double their yield," said Glicerio Joel Lumagbas, head of the agricultural services department of Nestle Philippines, which is the mother company of the leading coffee brand Nescafe. "All they have to do is put the right amount of fertilizer to their coffee trees and maintain them properly."

Four coffee varieties were introduced in the country directly from South America and Indonesia. These were Arabica, Liberica, Excelsa and Robusta. Each variety has its own unique characteristics but all four require careful production management techniques.

The most important variety is Arabica, which accounts for 72 percent of world production. Arabica is an early bearer. Two years after transplanting, it produces cherries. Generally, a full-grown and well-managed one-hectare farm can yield 1,000 kilos of green beans. This variety, however, is susceptible to coffee rust, which almost wiped out the coffee industry in the country.

The second most important commercially is Robusta, accounting for 27 percent of world production. The tree is more widely adaptable than Arabica, but it does best in warm equatorial climates. Large areas of Southeast Asia are suitable for its production. A well-tended one-hectare field can yield about 1,200 kilos per year of green coffee beans.

Liberica, commonly called kapeng barako, produces the biggest berry. It is noted for its very strong taste and color. Trees are upright with straight trunks. Berries are round, borne singly or in small cluster with thick and firm pulp.

This variety is drought-resistant and bears berries four to five years after transplanting. A one-hectare farm planted to Liberica can yield about 1,000 kilos per year.

Excelsa is similar to Liberica except for its smoother, thinner and more rounded leaves with smooth edge. The berries are ovoid and a little compressed having a flat form. Like Liberica, its bearing age is four to five years after transplanting and has an approximate annual yield of 1,000 kilos per hectare.

"The Philippines is one of the few countries that produce the four varieties of commercially-viable coffee," said the National Coffee Development Board. "Climatic and soil conditions in the Philippines, from the lowland to mountain regions, make the country suitable for all four varieties."

Farmers who will plant coffee for the first time should learn some techniques from Nestle Philippines. Its new method of farming uses coffee as a main crop and a variety of secondary crops to provide additional or alternative income for the farmers while waiting for coffee to bear berries.

The system aims to encourage farmers to plant coffee as their main crop by widening their income base, thus giving them the option to wait for the best time to sell their coffee.

The technique is simple: plant coffee tree rows five meters apart and spaced two meters apart in the row. Companion crops -- like ampalaya, sweet pepper, cabbage, eggplant, sweet potato, lettuce, peanuts, string beans, ube, and upland kangkong, among others, can then be planted in between the wide five-meter space. As these companion crops need nutrients, these should be fertilized separately from the coffee trees.

As a general rule, any crop is a candidate for companion crops as long as it does not compete for sunlight and water with the coffee trees. Mid-sized fruit-bearing plants and trees like banana, lanzones, papaya and rambutan are also good companion crops.

Nestle's Lumagbas advises farmers to plant companion crops that have a ready market within the vicinity. They should also visit the local market and find out which crops are scarce during certain times of the year and to consider producing these crops off-season.

Farmers should also get in touch with the nearest of the Department of Trade and Industry for possible linkages with wholesale buyers.

As for their coffee, the Nestle Philippines has built buying stations across the country, including Alabang, Calamba, Cavite, Isabela, Palawan, and Tuguegarao, in Luzon; Bacolod, Bohol, and Iloilo in Visayas; and Agusan del Sur, Cotabato, Davao, and Zamboanga in Mindanao.

In these buying stations, farmers can sell their coffee at guaranteed actual market prices.

Yes, the future of coffee in the Philippines is indeed promising!