Coffee production promoted in Kalinga

By Dexter A. See

TABUK CITY, Kalinga— The city agriculture office here is promoting establishment of coffee plantations to develop said high value crop as the city’s One Town One Product (OTOP) and boost coffee alternative source of livelihood for the thousands of agricultural stakeholders.

City agriculturist Gilbert Cawis Sr., in a statement, said there is a need to encourage farmers, especially former coffee planters to engage once again in the farming activity considering its economic advantage and sustainability compared to other crops following the rapidly increasing global demand for coffee, especially Arabica coffee which is popularly produced in the Cordillera as one of the cash crops.

He said several farmers have converted their coffee plantations to corn fields believing that they would gain more and faster compared to coffee production unknowing that the latter is now considered as a decent source of livelihood for the people because of increasing global market as Arabica coffee is now the demand of the international community because of its long lasting aroma and caramelized taste.

To address this, the local agriculture office conceptualized a plan to advance the city’s coffee management and production program to get farmers’ venture in coffee agri-business in order to significantly increase coffee production to cater to the growing demand so that the same will be sustained and that the local farmers will not eventually lose track of the international market for the lucrative commodity.

Tabuk City, as well and other parts of the province, he said produce the best Robusta and Excelsa coffee beans in the region as these are being propagated organically which is also one of the major requirements in order to continuously export the products due to the health benefits of organically grown agricultural crops.

However, there is a need to improve and increase production considering that local produce could not even sustain the needed supply of local coffee processors. In several occasions they had to buy coffee beans from outside the province to meet market demands.

With the establishment of coffee as the city’s OTOP, coffee bean supply will be sustained and farmers will always have available local markets aside from outside buyers.