DA earmarks P192 million for coffee and cacao production

To take advantage of the so-called “mocha trend,” the Department of Agriculture (DA) has earmarked P192 million for coffee production and implementation of Cacao Agribusiness Zones Development (CAZD).
“The vision of Secretary {Proceso) Alcala is for us to come up with the best possible strategies to make the country’s coffee and cacao industries competitive so that these commodities can contribute to food security,” said Dr. Teodoro Solsoloy, DA-Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) assistant director.
As part of a coffee roadmap, Solsoloy said DA is partnering with Nestle Philippines in putting up a mother plant garden in Cagayan Valley.
The nursery will produce 200,000 Robusta coffee seedlings per year through the Cagayan Valley Upland Research Outreach Station in Aglipay, Quirino.
For cocoa, the CAZD is establishing five agribusiness zones—Davao City, Compostela Valley, Zamboanga del Norte, Palawan, and Camarines Sur.
BAR has just supported a research and development (R&D) forum for coffee and cacao of the Options Inc. to encourage investments in the crops, which the country heavily imports.
According to Josephine Ramos, managing director of Options Inc., the country imports some 100,000 metric tons (MT) of coffee beans worth P10 billion annually mainly from Vietnam.
It imports around 20,000 MT of cocoa beans from big African cocoa producers (Nigeria, Ivory Coast) costing a yearly average of $ 42 million. This import value excludes chocolate products and consumables.
The Philippines apparently has to embrace the mocha trend as the craze on coffee as a social drink has turned to more mixtures of coffee with different flavors. This is particularly coffee mixed with chocolate as a cocoa product or known as mocha.
The brisk coffee and cocoa consumption growth is prompting the industry to encourage local production.
The Philippines is among the few countries in the world that can grow coffee and cacao with its geographical position around the equator.
Meanwhile, BAR Director Nicomedes Eleazar said coffee is a priority R&D crop under BAR’s 2011-2016 R&D, and Extension (RDE) Program. This program is funding improvement of the facilities of the National Coffee RDE headquartered at the Cavite State University in Indang, Cavite.
CADZ is a partnership between the DA and the Cocoa Foundation of the Philippines (Cocoaphil). The CADZ will house central fermentation and drying facilities, quality assurance equipment, central nursery and budwood garden, warehouse, and office space.