Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - The Philippine Coffee Board Inc. (PCB) has renewed its call for continued support from the Department of Agriculture for its program to improve coffee production nationwide.
Under the "Pilipinas! Gising at Magkape" (PGAM) program launched in 2008, the PCB has conducted training and rehabilitation efforts in Benguet, Mt. Province, Cavite, Iloilo, Negros Island and many parts of Mindanao.
Earlier this year, the DA announced that it had set aside P150 million (US$3.4 million) for a sufficiency road map spearheaded by the PCB.
About P50 million was budgeted for 2010, with another P100 million is set to be released for tree planting and farm rehabilitation programs.
The PCB's vision of reviving the coffee industry was again discussed during the National Coffee Summit held last October, which was attended by Agriculture undersecretary for special concerns Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.
"I hope we will still get the P100 million allocated for the industry in the budget," said PCB co-chair Chit Juan, who is also PGAM director.
Juan said the PCB had resubmitted its plan to the Department of Agriculture's (DA) high value commercial crops program and is hopeful that the department will support new coffee plantings for 2011, as earlier promised.
"We have also submitted to a DA-attached agency, National Agribusiness Corporation or Nabcor, our plan to provide central coffee processing facilities so farmers can process their green coffee beans properly. We still have to check if Nabcor will support our proposal," said PCB chair Nicholas Matti.
The Philippines has been importing coffee from Vietnam and Indonesia for soluble coffee and also to augment needs of specialty coffee roasters.
The country has been importing no less than 40,000 metric tons per year for the last two years as consumption has gone up to 68,000 tons while production is still at a dismal low of 23,000 tons, despite renewed efforts to encourage coffee production.
Besides promoting new plantings and post-harvest facilities for coffee areas, the PCB looks into biotechnology cooperation with global coffee exporters.
In July, the PCB forged a biotechnology agreement with the DA and Brazil's Instituto Agronomico de Campinas of the State of Sao Paulo for the exchange of germplasm or planting materials.
The PCB is also seeking the help of Vietnam and Indonesia.
Vietnam is second only to top producer Brazil in terms of volume and quality. Colombia, Indonesia and India round up the top five, according to PCB.
The Philippine grows four varieties of coffee: arabica; liberica, from which the barako variety developed; excelsa; and robusta, which is the most common and the favored variety of instant coffee producers.
The Philippines' coffee industry was self-sufficient until 1998, with producers even able to export to the United States, Middle East, Japan, Korea.
In 1999, however, market price for coffee fell steeply due to overproduction in Vietnam. Coffee producers in the Philippines began abandoning the crop and the country has become a net importer since.
