Blessed with suitable agro-climatic condition plus the availability of farm technologies, Caraga’s coffee industry looks very promising.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), an average growth rate of 12.8% in Caraga’s coffee production is experienced from 2010 to 2015.

However, the supply is still not enough to meet the demand for coffee. “Nestle Philippines, the biggest coffee buyer in the country is able to source out locally only 25% of our coffee requirement, the remaining 75% has to be imported,” Eddie Baylin, Nestle Area Agronomist for Caraga, said.

During the crafting of the coffee industry roadmap of the region in 2016, the lack of quality planting materials was identified as among the weak points of the industry.

Currently, there is only one accredited coffee nursery in the region, the Mabuhay Kahayagan Coffee Growers Cooperative nursery in Tagbina, Surigao del Sur.

Accreditation of plant nurseries ensures quality planting materials that are free from pests and diseases. On the other hand, accredited plant nurseries will have access to technical assistance and supervision, access to government programs in terms of marketing, and is entitled to identified scion/plant propagules from government registered scion groves.

Among the requirements of the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI)for nursery accreditation is the establishment of the nursery at least one year prior to application. It should also have a minimum area of 1,000 sq.m. with a stock inventory of planting materials valued at P100,000 per crop applied. It should also have a scion grove and seed garden planted with National Seed Industry Council (NSIC) approved and registered varieties/cultivars of fruit, plantation and root crops established at least a year before application. The nursery must also have a minimum of 20 mother trees per variety/strain of the crop applied following the recommended distance. The scion grove should not be more than five (5) kilometer radius from the nursery for accessibility. All propagules to be used in sexual/asexual propagation must be obtained from tagged trees by Plant Material Certification of the established foundation/scion/budwood and seed garden.

“There is a need to establish more nurseries in the region because we want to be assured of the production of quality and high yielding planting materials to meet our coffee production target,” said DA-Caraga High-Value Crops Development Program Coordinator Marco Antonio Morido.

Based on the roadmap, Caraga has a projected target of increased coffee production from 1,716MT in 2016 to 3,712MT in 2022.

Applicants for nursery accreditation may either be an individual applicant or designated representative of an association/corporation/cooperative/Non-Government Organization (NGO)/Local Government Units (LGUs) or State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) engaged in plant nursery business. They must have a propagator who has undergone training on the nursery establishment and principles on plant propagation conducted by BPI, DA-Regional Offices and SUCs. (Vanessa P. Sanchez/DA-Caraga)