The Negros Occidental provincial government is allocating P16 million for the development and expansion of the production of Robusta coffee in the province, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said on Tuesday, August 30.
Assistance will also be given to four coffee producing communities in La Castellana, Cadiz City, La Carlota City and Sipalay City for processing plants, he said.
Diaz said only 8 metric tons of coffee is being produced annually on about 8,000 hectares, which is very low and is barely 10 percent of what is expected.
Good yield should have at least about 90 metric tons, which is their aim in the next three years, he said.
The coffee plantations are operated by people’s organizations and non- government organizations, some of whom have Special Agreements on Protected Areas, he said.
There are plans to rejuvenate some areas and to plant better varieties, with focus on Robusta, which hopefully will become the trademark of Negros’ coffee, Diaz added.
The P16 million to be allocated next year for coffee development will come from the 20 percent development fund of the Negros Occidental provincial government, he said.
They have to rethink where to plant as some coffee plantations are located in the protected area of the Northern Negros Natural Park, he said.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources allowed it as part of its greening program but some of the plants there are no longer productive because of age and need to be pruned to be rejuvenated, he said.
“The problem is we cannot prune trees in the protected zone”, he said.
So if P16 million is spent for the rejuvenation why not use it to plant coffee in unused marginal lands, Diaz added.*