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Sustainability
NESCAFÉ helps set up coffee farm in Sultan Kudarat
June 2007
A RETIRED pharmaceutical executive from Manila builds a coffee demonstration farm in Sultan Kudarat that will showcase the ground-breaking agricultural program of a multinational food and beverage company.
Edgar Eugenio, one of the recipients of NESCAFÉ’s coffee demonstration farm program, will receive free coffee planting materials, fertilizers, as well as technical assistance to put up a coffee farm in the town of Chua.
This project is in line with NESCAFÉ’s Coffee-Based Sustainable Farming System (CBSFS) under the worldwide program of Sustainable Agriculture Initiative of Nestlé (SAIN).
NESCAFÉ’s sustainable farming system encourages farmers to use coffee as a main crop alongside 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 farm space and to provide additional cash crops between coffee harvests.
Although ampalaya, bell pepper, cabbage, eggplant, kamote, lettuce, peanuts, spring onion, string beans, ube, and upland kangkong, are ideal candidates, NESCAFÉ recommends farmers to 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.
Eugenio plans to allocate two to three hectares of his 40-hectare farm land for this NESCAFÉ project that will also include a coffee seed bank and a commercial nursery.
He says this is a great opportunity for him to experiment with other plants as coffee companion crops like rubber and yakon, a medicinal plant.
“I am glad NESCAFÉ is helping us build this coffee demonstration farm,” says Eugenio. “Chua is the gateway to the coffee towns of Colabay, Lebak and Kalamansig in Sultan Kudarat, the leading coffee producing province in the country.”
Eugenio, 48, started with leisure farming with cash crops 10 years ago as a break from his hectic job as marketing manager for Metro Drug, formerly Marsman.
Eventually his passion for farming grew that he took an early retirement and moved back to Sultan Kudarat to help his cousin manage the family’s honeydew and coffee farm.
In recent months, he has been busy working for his dream coffee farm set in a rolling highland in Chua.
“The people from NESCAFÉ have expressed excitement over the fact that we can plant test various Robusta plants at different altitudes,” reveals Eugenio. “The farmers in our area are equally excited to see NESCAFÉ know-how and technology within their reach.” |
