Instead of planting marijuana, Kalinga farmers are being encouraged to venture into the equally profitable and more socially acceptable coffee, according to the regional project director of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) in the Cordillera Administrative Region.
“At P92.50 per kilogram of dried beans, coffee can be profitable to farmers, [hence] they do not need to plant the [prohibited] crop,” Dr. Lorenzo M. Caranguian said during the recent Luzon A Cluster meeting attended by World Bank representatives.
Caranguian made this pronouncement in response to a remark that the hinterlands of Tinglayan, Kalinga, is known as a plantation area for marijuana.
Last year some P2.2 billion worth of marijuana plants and derivatives found in a 15-hectare plantation in Tinglayan were destroyed.
Kalinga Gov. Jocel Baac said the addictive marijuana is destroying the lives of many people, yet, some continue to plant it as it is highly profitable.
“A small bottle of dried marijuana can easily be sold for P1000 in some downtown areas in the province,” Baac said, adding that the profit is irresistible to many farmers.
But according to Baac, the PRDP’s enterprise development subproject focusing on coffee production in the province is a very much welcome alternative livelihood for Kalinga farmers.
To help develop the promising coffee industry in Kalinga, the PRDP has earlier approved a P14.8-million funding assistance for the Kalinga Integrated Coffee Processing and Marketing Enterprise subproject.
The assistance is expected to improve the production of coffee beans in the highlands, which has undergone initial improvements under the supervision of the PRDP.
Known for its low acidity and full flavor, Kalinga coffee is highly sought in the local and even in the international market.
According to Kalinga Provincial Agriculturist Domingo Bakilan, the desirable traits of Kalinga’s Robusta variety might be a result of being planted in the altitude between 7,000 to 8,000 feet above sea level.
Bakilan added that the elders in different local communities say the best-tasting beans are those planted in rich and moist soils with clay components that quickly store and drain excess water.