PHL Agri Dept to propagate coffee clones

The government is seeking to propagate and strengthen the Arabica coffee variety in the Philippines to cut down importation and place the country squarely in the sights of the world's coffee lovers.

 

The Bureau of Plant Industry-Baguio National Crop Research and Development Center (BPI-BNCRDC) targets to establish two to three clonal gardens in Baguio.

 

The proposed pilot sites are higher elevation areas Sagada and  Atok, and lower elevation areas Sablan or Kabayan.   A clonal garden costs an estimated P1 million each or up to P3 million for the proposed sites, the BPI said. The Department of Agriculture hopes to replicate the pilot clonal gardens in other coffee-growing regions.

 

BPI-NCRDC Agriculturist Avelina M. Galacio said the clonal gardens would help improve the yield of coffee farmers in the Philippines. It would also make the country more competitive as arabica is the number one variety in the world.

 

“We chose Arabica coffee because this is what really thrives well in our place in the uplands unlike other varieties that are good in the lowlands," said Galacio.

 

Cuttings as planting materials were found by BPI to give a high yield of an average of 4.38 metric tons (MT) per hectare, about double the 2.25 MT per hectare yield from seeds.    

 

This yield significantly higher than the average yield of 300 kilos per hectare in Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR). Coffee is a priority crop in the mountainous regions of CAR.

 

Consequently, return on investment (ROI) was high from cuttings with 181 percent ROI compared to seeds’ only 58 percent, the BPI said, This is based on a four-year study of BPI and at green coffee bean’s price of P150 per kilo.

 

The BPI's coffee project was the top research in the Applied Agriculture category of the Bureau of Agricultural Research.

 

BAR Director Nicomedes P. Eleazar said BAR has been supporting excellence in research among different government and academic agencies in an aim to further support agricultural productivity and raise income opportunities for farmers.

 

“It is through researches such as this one on Arabica coffee that we can really find out how we can help farmers improve their income using the same crop they’re used to planting but with newer, proven technologies," Eleazar said.

 

The seedlings from cuttings have substantially cut coffee gestation period from planting to harvest to just 1.5 years.  It usually takes three to four years for coffee trees to be harvested when seeds are used.

 

“Plants obtained from cuttings initiated flower earlier at 516.5 days and 694.5 days from seeds which had a difference of 28 days," reported BPI’s Galacio, Josephine B. Ayban, Norma B. Pedroche, and  Joyce Jean O. Bacayan.

 

Coffee is the world’s most heavily traded commodity next to oil. It is the world’s seventh largest agricultural export by value.

 

The world's thirst for coffeee has been increasing, thanks to a trend on gourmet coffee-drinking in many societies along with the recognition that drinking coffee helps mitigate chances of heart disease and cancer.

 

“Regular drinking of two cups of coffee a day had about 30-40 percent reduction risk of gallstone disease," according to the BPI study.

 

Coffee demand locally has been increasing by 2.75 percent yearly.  The country’s coffee imports continued to rise from only 47,700 metric ton (MT) in 2008 to 54,420 MT in 2010, according to Philippine Coffee Board.  This import is estimated to cost P4 billion yearly.

 

Officials said    there are 410,000 farmers nationwide that depend on coffee for livelihood.  Most of their farming techniques are outdated and produce poor coffee crop.

 

“Our planting materials from cuttings are still limited.  Farmers have not yet fully adopted the cuttings technology.  So the use of cuttings in the region is still about 50 percent from cuttings and 50 percent from seeds," Gelacio said.  “We need to disseminate the information and conduct trainings for farmers." — TJD, GMA News