Davao City—A dying coffee farm in Zamboanga del Sur was restored to health, thanks to the intervention of a United States-funded coffee project.
Washington-based international development organization ACDI/VOCA said its technical team revived the ailing collective coffee farm in Zamboanga, which suffered from nutrient deficiency and was struck by pests and fungi.
“The farm was successfully saved from further deterioration through the intervention and technical support provided by the Philippine Coffee Advancement and Farm Enterprise [PhilCAFE] project technical team,” the ACDI/VOCA said in a statement sent to the BusinessMirror on August 12.
It said the 20-hectare farm of the San Pablo Zamboanga del Sur Coffee Farmers Association (SPZDSCFA) encountered problems in the first quarter.
“These included the sudden weakening of the plants along with the onslaught of mealybugs and other pests that infested the coffee trees. Initially planted with 13,500 coffee trees in 2017, the association added 10,000 trees in June 2019 in its attempt to become a producer of world-class Robusta coffee,” the group said.
It said members of the association expressed concern “as they do not have the technical knowledge and resources to combat pest infestation in addition to their limited skills in addressing the nutritional deficiencies of the farm.”
ACDI/VOCA said the Covid-19 pandemic also placed additional burden on the group “as it limited the association’s access to technical assistance and support.”
Ludovico Ramirez, PhilCAFE coordinator for Davao region, said the farm’s caretaker applied pesticide after noticing the presence of pests among coffee trees as immediate intervention, but this failed to achieve the desired results.
“In fact, the situation of the trees further worsened, and the pest infestation persisted,” he added.
Ramirez said the association’s president requested assistance through a group chat where he posted photos and videos of the farm, which allowed the PhilCAFE team to thoroughly assess the situation.
“I requested Novie Valerio, PhilCAFE field technician to conduct an assessment and provide proper recommendations to address the problems,” said Ramirez.
The ACDI/VOCA said the PhilCAFE project aims to increase production of conventional and specialty coffee, boost the country’s coffee exports, and build the capacity and expand service provision of coffee value chain.
The project is funded by the US Department of Agriculture and is being implemented by ACDI/VOCA, an international organization that fosters broad-based economic growth by promoting economic opportunities for cooperatives, enterprises, and communities.
After the assessment, Valerio immediately gave his recommendations based on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in integrated pest and disease management for coffee farms.
Among the interventions were the application of proper insecticides to address pest and fungi infestation, weeding and pruning techniques, pruning of the leaves of the shade trees, removal of dried leaves, and the use of friendly fungi Beauveria bassiana and Metarizhium anisoplea to combat the remaining population of mealybugs. Proper and prudent use of fertilizers and foliar sprays were also recommended to address the farm’s nutritional deficiencies.
“Two months later with constant monitoring and application of the suggested strategies, the farm was successfully transformed into a healthy state,” said Ramirez. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, “the interventions were successfully implemented through remote management and monitoring in online messaging platforms”.
“We at the SPZDSCFA would like to express our profound appreciation for all the assistance extended to us by the PhilCAFE Project through ACDI/VOCA during this most difficult time. The mealybug infestation was successfully controlled, and our coffee farm has fully recovered,” said Christopher Vicera, president of SPZDSCFA.