Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Laguna revitalizes production of Rizal's favorite Robusta coffee
The first ever coffee festival in the city, slated from April 13 until April 15, 2018, showcases the "Cafe de Cabuyao" produced at the Coffee Processing Center--a community-based coffee processing and shared service facility funded by the Department of Agriculture (DA) IV-A under the High-Value Crops Development Program with a counterpart from the local government.
The festival showcased other coffee-based products developed by the Cabuyao Young Entrepreneurs Society, paintings display, barista training, and demonstration of coffee-based products.Meanwhile, in a video presentation, Prof. Clarke Nebrao, the president of the Association of Laguna Food Producers (ALAFOP), discussed the results of his four years of study and research on the history and origin of the Robusta coffee variety in the province, and in particular in Cabuyao, which was known then as Tabuco.
"In 1881, the Agustinian friars introduced a variety of coffee in Tabuco, (which was the old name of Cabuyao), named 'Canephora' now known as Robusta," he said.
He also found out that the Robusta coffee was the favorite beverage of the National Hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal, upon his return to the country from 1887 to 1889.
Historical accounts showed that during that period, Rizal drank the Tabuco (Cabuyao) coffee while writing his poems and letters to girlfriend Leonor Rivera and his novels 'Noli Me Tangere' and 'El Filibusterismo,' among others."Based on historical documents, the Robusta coffee is considered the Laguna Heritage Filipino Coffee since it started in the province and the favorite of Dr. Jose P. Rizal," Nebrao said, adding that it has a distinctive aroma, and has a palatable and preferable taste for Filipinos.
In his remarks, Mayor Rommel A. Gecolea affirmed the finding of Nebrao that the Augustinian friars, who established a Catholic church in Tabuco in the 1800s, also brought Robusta coffee with them to substitute the roasted rice or roasted corn, practiced by the early Tabuco natives.
"As we drink coffee, we will think of the same variety of coffee that Dr. Jose Rizal used to drink while writing his poems and novels in his time," Gecolea said in Filipino.
"Talking about Robusta coffee, it is a beautiful part of the history of our place that we ought to be proud of. I believe that we will not only relive the contribution of coffee in our history, but we will also revitalize the economy of our hardworking and outstanding coffee farmers," he added.
The mayor said that for the local economy to grow, the government will have to invest. As a support to the growing coffee industry, the city government bought 'Cafe de Cabuyao' worth PhP 500,000 in 2017 and PhP 700,000 this year and were given to taxpayers as token and as part of promotions to local folks of a product they can be proud of as their own.
Gecolea said guests and citizens are given free drinks of Cafe de Cabuyao once they visit the city hall while employees also enjoy unlimited coffee daily.
He also cited the creation of the Laguna Heritage Coffee branded as "Maestro 1888," in reference to Rizal as the maestro, for the Robusta coffee produced in the city to add a sense of history on a popular beverage.
A Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) representatives disclosed that the city has been reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) as one of the major producers of coffee in the country.
She mentioned the need for revitalization of old coffee trees or 'senile' trees through fertilization and planting of more coffee trees and expansion of planting areas for greater production.
Susan Palo, director, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Laguna also called for the need to expand the planting areas to meet the growing demands of coffee locally and globally and of various levels of affordability.
Records of the City Agriculture Office showed that as of 2017, 58.5 hectares have been planted with 51,638 Robusta coffee trees (38,400 bearing and 13,238 non-bearing) as well as Liberica coffee trees (4,140 bearing and 1,485 non-bearing) in Cabuyao.
According to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), 82 families who are beneficiaries of the government's land reform program owned the land planted with the two varieties of coffee, who also formed themselves into the Casile-Guinting Upland Marketing Cooperative (CGUMC) in 2011. CGUMC was awarded the most outstanding community-based cooperative in 2017. [Zen Trinidad, PNA]
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Industry road map to boost production of Philippine coffee
Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez said the DTI is working closely with the Department of Agriculture (DA) to implement the coffee industry roadmap.
Under the five-year period roadmap, some 213,788 hectares of land is expected to be made available for coffee farming. At the same time, the program is expected to bring about an increase in the average to one ton of coffee beans per hectare from the current 0.33 tons.
Coffee production at the end of the implementation of the roadmap is targeted at 214,626 metric tons (MT) from the current annual output of 37,000 MT, according to Lopez. This would make the country's coffee self-sufficiency level increase to 161 percent from the current 41.6 percent level.
"We have to have a patriotic drive to encourage demand for Philippine coffee. We are encouraging local producers to expand coffee production to create the demand," said Lopez.
The country produces four varieties of coffee -- the robusta, arabica, excelsa, and liberica, it was explained.
The DTI noted the huge local demand for coffee products. The Philippines is the fifth largest consumer of coffee globally, behind the European Union, United States, Brazil, and Japan. Domestic demand is expected to further increase driven by the growing consumption of coffee by the younger generation.
About 90 percent of coffee in the country is imported, which amounted to Php12-billion. This made the country the fourth largest importer of coffee in the world.
Lopez also assured local coffee farmers that DTI has enabling mechanisms to support the industry.
"Through DTI's 7Ms (Mindset change, Mastery, Mentoring, Money, Machine, and Models), we will continue to provide enabling mechanisms to empower coffee farmers and help in addressing the challenges in the industry," the trade chief said.
Aside from coffee industry, other agribusiness sectors that completed their roadmaps include cacao and tablea, carrageenan, condiments, processed fruit, processed meat, and processed shrimp.
The DTI urges industries to craft their own roadmaps that will complement the country's Comprehensive National Industrial Strategy (CNIS), which aims to integrate manufacturing, agriculture, and services.
The industry roadmaps and the CNIS also seek to address gaps in the supply chain and link Philippine industries to the global value chain. [Kris Crismundo, PNA]
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