DA grooms Mindanao as RP's coffee capital

03/27/2004
Davao City (27 Mar) -- The Department of Agriculture (DA) is grooming Mindanao to become the country's coffee production center.

DA regional director Roger Chio said efforts to revive coffee production have begun in the Davao region, starting with the organization of coffee growers.

He said consultations will be held next week and the final draft of a road map on coffee production in Southern Mindanao will be presented.

The road map will direct us where to go and how to do it, he said.

Mindanao will be the center of coffee production although there are areas in other parts of the country that are starting to revive their local coffee industries, he said.

He said Mindanao has about 7,800 hectares of coffee land. Sultan Kudarat has 3,000 hectares; Bukidnon, 2,000 hectares; Compostela Valley Province, 2,000; Basilan, 500; and Sulu, 300.

Other production areas undergoing rehabilitation are Davao City, Davao del Sur, South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Sur and Norte and Maguindanao.

The Philippines is experiencing a severe shortage of domestic coffee in the face of increasing demand. Demand has grown to 50 thousand metric tons from 1997 to 2002.

In an earlier report, DA secretary Luis Lorenzo said Mindanao is projected to supply 80 percent of the country's coffee requirements.

He said the government and private sector are closely working together to revive the industry in order to achieve self-sufficiency as well as regain its lost stature as a key player in the export market.

He said to achieve this, there is a need to immediately rehabilitate 15,900 hectares of coffee farms in Southern Mindanao until 2005 with the goal of attaining a sustained yield of at least one ton per hectare.

Lorenzo said Mindanao is also establishing a niche in the global coffee market including China and the Middle East by 2010.


http://www.pia.gov.ph/news.asp?fi=p040327.htm&no=3