Davao City Coffee Council (DC3) eyes 17,000 hectares in upland areas in Davao City for coffee production but government is needed for development.
“The Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Davao regional office, together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the National Commission on Indigenous People, has to identify the areas for coffee production and set up an assistance program to encourage farmers,” Ian B. Asilo, DC3 chairman, stated.
Respectively, Asilo emphasized that the ideal area for coffee production is 17,000 hectares of land from Toril to Marilog but were converted to banana and cacao farms.
“These areas used to have more coffee growers, particularly indigenous people (IP) communities, who switched crops in the 1990s following a drop in market prices,” Asilo said.
The private sector and social enterprises can join once the DA has tagged the area to assist the small-scale growers and IPs.
Further, Asilo highlighted that private sector like DC3 can step in to assist IPs capacity in producing large volumes.
Support from the DA is needed to increase coffee production.
Philippine Coffee Quality Competition (PCQC) requires 180 kilos of coffee beans. At present, no coffee farmers can provide the said requirement.
Moreover, the Philippine Coffee Expo and the PCQC will be on April 2-3, 2020 which will be hosted by Davao City.
DA, Department of Trade and Industry, Barista Coffee Academy of Asia, and the Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA) will organize the upcoming expo.
Apart from Davao coffee, the coffee beans in Bukidnon bagged awards during the first cupping competition (See full story here: Bukidnon Coffee Won the First Cupping Competition in PH ).
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