Agriculture Business Week

Farmers can make 30-year old coffee trees productive again by rejuvenating them.

This was found by researchers Felix P. Amancio and Jeanette H. Arnado at the Department of Agriculture 12-Central Mindanao Integrated Agricultural Research Center (DA-CEMIARC) in Kidapawan City.

Coffee-a beverage crop grown in many regions of the Philippines where soil is deep, friable, well-drained, loamy, and rich in nutrients-is usually grown through seeds. But in time, the tree’s productivity diminishes, while the cost of production increases. Instead of planting coffee seedlings, rejuvenate old trees to attain initial production in a shorter time.

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Posted on October 17th, 2008 under Coffee, Forest Trees. Tags: Coffee. Comments: None

The country’s leading coffee brand Nescafe is actively promoting the building of water impounding areas to combat the dry season in farms with no irrigation system.

Joel Lumagbas, head of Nestle Philippines Inc.’s Agricultural Services, reveals that his team at the Nestle Experimental and Development Farm (NEDF) is educating farmers in building artificial ponds in low-lying areas of the farm lots where rainwater naturally collects.

It’s cheap, easy to build, and better than doing nothing,” he says.
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Posted on October 9th, 2008 under Coffee. Tags: Coffee, Water. Comments: None

Filipinos love to drink coffee. Drinking coffee is a favorite pastime and an engaging social activity for many of us. This explains why nowadays various coffee shops are sprouting in almost every corner of the metro, the most evident indication that the coffee shop industry is a thriving business.

Our love for coffee was basically brought about by the colonization of the country by the Spaniards more than two centuries ago when they turned our highlands into coffee plantations. They loved the perfect temperature and humidity plus the wet and dry tropical climate that made the cultivation of coffee well suited in the Philippines.

Growing coffee became such a profitable venture that for a while, the Philippines was one of the leading coffee-producing nations during the 19th century. But due to the coffee rust disease, such reputation was cut short. It was during this time that the Latin American countries battled it out and dominated the global coffee market.
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Posted on October 7th, 2008 under Coffee, Entrepreneurs. Tags: Business, Coffee, Roaster. Comments: None

Farmers worldwide are gaining from Nestle’s sustainable agriculture initiatives and practices. Now, it’s the Filipino’s turn.

To address farmers’ agricultural problems and the country’s dwindling domestic production of coffee as well as its growing demand, Nestle Philippines developed a coffee-based sustainable farming system focused on bringing back the vibrancy of the coffee sector.

Nestle Philippines Agricultural Services Department Head Glicerio Joel Lumagbas said, “It was 2003 when we started developing this farming system. We brought Switzerland-based Sustainable Agriculture Initiatives (SAI) chamber Mr. Patrick Leheup in the country to spearhead its first convention. The response was successful, with 15 major food companies present that day, all of which were keen and open to develop the agricultural activities in the country.”

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Posted on September 24th, 2008 under Coffee. Tags: Coffee. Comments: None

A Filipino pride advocate finds a way to bring gourmet coffee to the masses.

The growth of coffee shops in the Metro has revealed to numerous entrepreneurs    and aficionados alike what the coffee industry holds for them in the immediate future. And individuals like Patrick Joson, the man behind what blogs and urbanite critics now call “The Filipinos’ Choice”, Kape ni Juan, isn’t so far behind so much so that he even encourages it.

It also helps that the Philippines is one of the few countries in the Pacific that is fortunate to have all four major coffee varieties present in its soil. Our country is actually situated in the ‘coffee belt’, a part of the globe which has only two seasons-wet and dry, entailing a tropical climate, sufficient amount of rain and humidity that’s advantageous to coffee farmers. This became more renowned especially in the `90s, where the Philippines became the fourth largest coffee-producing country in the world.
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Posted on September 21st, 2008 under Coffee, Entrepreneurs. Tags: Coffee, Entrepreneurs. Comments: None

The Figaro Foundation has been at the forefront of many activities to revive a once dwindling and dying industry.

Nothing beats drinking a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee in the morning. Indeed, coffee is an integral part of the day of many people. Sadly, news about a dwindling coffee industry has left many wondering: what happens next? Two hundred years ago, we were one of the top coffee producers in the world. Today, our production does not even account for 1% of the world production.

In the early 1800’s the Spaniards introduced coffee to take advantage of the ideal growing conditions in the country. This, coupled with the vast tracks of land devoted to coffee, turned the country into a major player in the world coffee industry. However, the industry was devastated by the coffee rust blight. This allowed South American countries like Brazil to fill the vacuum. The industry was able to rebound as late as 1986 when the country earned US$15o million coffee. Lately the industry has experienced a slow decline with our coffee exports only amounting to US$500,000.

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Posted on August 5th, 2008 under Coffee, Organic. Tags: Coffee, Organic. Comments: None

In a recent talk with agri-practioners from the University of the Philippines, Los Banos (UPLB), I was told of their disappointment over the seemingly wholesale invasion of agricultural products in the local market from China. This was coupled with the government plan to open a million hectares of agri-land for Chinese businessmen, despite of the existence or availability of local agri-talents recognized and hired by foreign governments and organizations.

To a large extent, I share their concern. UPLB enjoyed high international recognition as an educational institution producing top caliber agri-people. But the inability of the Philippines to elevate its agricultural productivity equal if not better than nearby countries somehow puts a dent in its image. Somewhere, somehow, the agriculture scenario seems not equal to the recognition anymore.

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Posted on July 31st, 2008 under Coffee, Corn/Maize, Other Crops, Rice. Tags: Coffee, Corn, Rice, Sugar. Comments: None

Corn prices  are at record high levels. Costs for other agricultural essentials, from wheat to coffee to rice, have surged, too. And many people are stunned, even, frightened, by all the increases.

But some entrepreneurs and analysts - recognizing that relative price increases in specific goods always encourage innovators to find ways around the problem - say they see an opportunity for creative solutions.

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Posted on July 17th, 2008 under Coffee, Corn/Maize, Rice, Special Report. Tags: Coffee, Corn, Fertilizer, Rice. Comments: None

Titus Fernandez of Nestle Philippines Cagayan de Oro (CDO) factory stabs three sacks of green coffee bean (GCB) with a “buriki.” In one swift move, he gets random samples of the morning’s delivery for strict standard evaluation.

“How strict? The GCB will be graded according to the percentage of total triage by weight of a composite sample, its moisture content, and finally, its cup taste which are all based on international standards,” reveals Fernandez.

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Posted on July 4th, 2008 under Coffee. Tags: Coffee. Comments: None