FOR a coffee grower in Murcia town, having their robusta beans graded "fine" at the recently held 2021 Philippine Coffee Quality Competition (PCQC) serves as an encouragement to his fellow Negrense farmers, especially those in the locality, to go into quality coffee production.
Teddy Cañete, one of the board of directors of Minoyan Murcia Marginal Coffee Growers (M3CG), said the result of the PCQC is an affirmation that the association can produce fine robusta.
"This can be achieved by following the right protocol in pre and post-harvest processing of coffee," he added.
M3CG is one of the established coffee producers in Western Visayas that the Department of Agriculture (DA) granted with various high-quality coffee seedlings, post-harvest facilities, and equipment to scale up its coffee quality.
Cañete said their members also committed to observing the proper practices to participate in the following competitions.
He hoped to acquire continuing education of the members on good agricultural practices (GAP), acquisition of centralized coffee processing facility, quality hulling machine, and moisture meter testing kit, among others, to enhance the quality of their coffee.
DA-Western Visayas said M3CG took part in coffee cupping competitions over the last three years and forged ahead as a specialty grade in this year's match.
Aside from the Murcia-based association, the Tongo Integrated Farmers Association in Himamaylan City also obtained a "fine" grade robusta coffee during the PCQC.
"Fine" coffee grade indicates that the green coffee beans (GCB) were void of primary defects and have no more than five secondary spots.
DA-Western Visayas High-Value Crops Development Program for Coffee Coordinator Jairus Sirue, in a statement, said achieving this performance is a notable milestone in the region's coffee industry.
With this, Sirue said, the farmers can expand their market chains and direct the price of their specialty-grade coffee beans.
"This accomplishment is attributed to improved practices such as selective harvesting and proper post-harvest drying methods de-hulling, and sorting of coffee beans employed by our coffee growers," he added.
The regional line agency has been intensively conducting technology training on sustainable coffee production to improve farmers' knowledge of proper cultural management and processing practices.
The PCQC is an annual event held seeking to recognize high-grade specialty coffee in the country.
It is a convergence undertaking of government and private sectors composed of the DA, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance, and the Barista and Coffee Academy of Asia Inc.
For this year's competition, the region submitted eight entries through the DTI.
The robusta beans of Bulalacao Calu-oy-Tula-Tula Sikap Organization of Sibalom, Antique also obtained a "fine" grade.
In Iloilo province, four coffee producers from Calinog, Igbaras, Lambunao and Barotac Viejo have also vied their entries in the contest.
Igbaras as well obtained a "premium" grade or a class coffee showing that the GCB contains not higher than eight combined primary and secondary defects.