Government crafting plan to conserve coffee trees

Three government agencies are currently crafting a plan to conserve fruit-bearing coffee trees and boost the country’s coffee production, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

A joint administrative circular (JAC) on the National Conservation Plan for Fruit-Bearing Trees and Plantation Crops is being drafted by the DA, the departments of Interior and Local Government, and Environment and Natural Resources.

Under the draft JAC, Danilo Dannug of the DA High-Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) said the cutting of trees will be prohibited unless it passes the necessary protocols set by authorities.

“We know that there is a decline in the coffee production by 4.04 percent in 2014, which totaled to 75,454 metric tons (MT) of dried berries. This was attributed to rampant cutting and pruning of old trees,” Dannug said.

Aside from the circular, he said in his presentation during the recent National Coffee Summit that the HVCDP is already planting new coffee trees.

The two-day summit, organized by the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) together with its Coffee Industry Development subcommittee, gathered about 200 participants in Diliman, Quezon City.

Participants raised uncertainties on financial assistance, transportation costs, lack of interest to use available land for coffee farming and other topics related to farming, postharvest, marketing, agribusiness, policy, regulations, and research development and extension.

Myrna Pablo, director of the Department of Trade and Industry-Cordillera Autonomous Region, noted the increasing popularity of specialty coffee, as consumers are becoming more health conscious.

“Consumers [are now] interested in the distinct quality of their coffee, which resulted in higher standards in coffee farming and processing,” Pablo said.

She added that specialty coffee has created a “direct” connection between the businessmen and coffee farmers. Myrna said the government saw this opportunity to elevate the coffee culture among coffee growers.

Last year data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that coffee output declined by 4.12 percent to 72,340 MT.

In the fourth quarter of 2015 alone, the PSA said coffee production grew by 1.65 percent. The agency noted that there were increases in the number of bearing trees in Sultan Kudarat, Surigao del Sur and Maguindanao.

Also, favorable weather conditions during the crop’s flowering stage coupled with lesser occurrence of coffee berry borer in Iloilo contributed to the production gain of coffee during the period.