Kalinga and Mountain Province farmers were trained on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) for Specialty Coffee under the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP).
The training was conducted in partnership with the Coffee Collective of the Philippines, Inc. (CCP), also known as the Philippine Coffee Guild (PCG), and the Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA) – Philippine Coffee Advancement and Farmers Enterprise (PhilCAFE) Project to develop the knowledge and skills on proper coffee production management protocols to improve coffee quality and generate higher incomes.
DA-PRDP National Project Director Undersecretary Ariel T. Cayanan said that the partnership between the PCG-CCP and ACDI/VOCA-PhilCAFE Project intends to increase coffee production through capacity building activities.
“Let us all come together and share our best practices towards a vibrant coffee industry that will be known all over the world,” Usec. Cayanan expressed.
Further, the GAP training intends to introduce and cascade the Coffee Mentorship strategy of the PhilCAFE to the PGs, to achieve a wider reach of farmers in the use of appropriate practices and capacitate the farmers to qualify and enter local/international coffee competition to add more value for their coffee beans.
Kalinga Integrated Coffee Processing and Marketing Enterprise and the Mountain Province Arabica Coffee Enterprise. The PGs of other DA-PRDP supported coffee enterprises in Mountain Province also participated in the training.
The training program enables the participants to acquire more knowledge on coffee establishment care and maintenance; plant nutrition/fertilization; integrated pest and disease management; pruning and rejuvenation; farm planning; proper coffee harvesting and characterization; coffee postharvest processing methods; and green bean grading and cupping.
Aside from the planting and postharvest processing methods, coffee cupping and sensory exercises were also facilitated by the PCG for the participants to appreciate their coffee and expound their knowledge on the taste and quality of coffee from various areas in the country including their coffee.
PCG Chairperson Ronald Yu encouraged the participants to practice and share what they have learned from the GAP training, urging them to participate in coffee quality competitions for an added value for their coffee beans.
The GAP training series for specialty coffee will be continued next year, to cover the other DA-PRDP assisted coffee enterprise PGs not only in the Cordilleras but in the whole country.
(Photo courtesy of DA-PRDP Cordillera)