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Sustainability
NESCAFÉ bares plan to build 15 coffee demo farms nationwide
February 2007
LEADING coffee brand NESCAFÉ plans to build 15 coffee demonstration farms across the Philippines this year to further promote sustainable agricultural practices at the grassroots level.
According to Joel Lumagbas, agricultural services department head of Nestlé Philippines, Inc. (NPI), NESCAFÉ eyes the establishment of 10 coffee demo farms in Mindanao in the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, North Cotabato and Surigao del Sur. Meanwhile, three demo farms will be set up in Luzon and two more in Visayas.
“NESCAFÉ values the importance of providing Filipino coffee farmers access to modern agricultural practices to help them improve the quality and quantity of their harvest,” said Lumagbas.
“The coffee demo farms allow us to share our sustainable agricultural initiative programs at the grassroots level,” he added.
The land used for these farms will occupy a combined total area of one to two hectares set aside by NESCAFÉ partner cooperatives. Meanwhile, NESCAFÉ will offer its technology such as Robusta seeds and plantings, organic fertilizers, and specialized coffee agricultural training to the farmers for free.
Robusta is the coffee variety that NESCAFÉ uses to manufacture the country’s best selling coffee NESCAFÉ Classic. The Nestlé Experimental and Development Farm (NEDF) in Tagum City in Davao del Norte is the country’s only known supplier of good Robusta seeds and plantings at cost price. But once the demo farms are operational, the farmers’ cooperatives may opt to build coffee nurseries of their own and become the supplier of Robusta seeds and plantings as well as organic fertilizers in their area.
The farms will showcase NESCAFÉ’s Coffee-Based Sustainable Farming System (CBSFS) launched three years ago in line with the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative of Nestlé (SAIN).
NESCAFÉ’s Sustainable Farming System encourages farmers to use coffee as a main crop and a variety of secondary crops to provide additional or alternative income for the farmers. Since rows of coffee trees are ideally planted five meters apart, CBSFS promotes the planting of companion crops to maximize the space.
Although ampalaya, bell pepper, cabbage, eggplant, kamote, lettuce, peanuts, spring onion, string beans, ube, and upland kangkong, are ideal candidates, Lumagbas says it is better if the farmers determine the most in-demand produce in their local market. Mid-sized fruit-bearing plants and trees like banana, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, lanzones, papaya and rambutan are also good since these plants will not compete for sunlight and water with the coffee trees.
While the farms in Mindanao have planted peanuts and even jatropha (a known source of biofuel) as secondary crops, Lumagbas expects the farms in Luzon to plant bell peppers, eggplants, string beans, and tomatoes because of the high demand for these in urban areas. |
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