Aurora embarks on five-year high-grade coffee program

BALER, Aurora – Agriculture and local officials have embarked on a five-year strategy to convert this province — considered one of the 20 poorest - into a hub for high-grade coffee production, starting with the establishment of a coffee research center inside the Aurora State College of Technology (ASCOT) here.

The plan to make the province a top coffee producer in Northeastern Luzon was firmed up following the inauguration of the Aurora Coffee Research and Development Extension Center (ACRDEC) at the ASCOT’s Zabali campus in this capital town recently.

Sen. Edgardo Angara, a native of this capital town and one of the prime movers of the ACRDEC project, said the province is one of the top producers of coffee beans in the country. Through the establishment of the ACRDEC, he said they intend to increase production of high-quality coffee beans to address the increasing demand in the local, national and international market.

Dr. Eusebio Angara, ASCOT president, said at least 100 coffee growers and producers will directly benefit from the operations of the center which aims to support coffee development through production and extension services.

Dr. Angara noted that the plan to make the province a prime producer of high-grade coffee will be pursued through a series of strategies such as training of coffee farmers using the participatory approach, establishment of demo farms and seed and cloning nurseries.

He said that under the five-year coffee development plan from 2007-2011, the stakeholders will also develop various production technologies and set up post-harvest facilities (PHFs) and processing, trade and information systems.  

The project was a collaborative effort among the ASCOT, the Cavite State University (CSU), the Department of Agriculture (DA), Baler Mayor Arthur Angara, Aurora Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara and the senator.

Coffee production hit its peak in 2000 in Barangay Diarabasin, Dipaculao town where a cooperative delivered five tons of coffee beans to Nestle Phils.

However, some of the local coffee growers abandoned their plantations due to very low production, inadequate post-harvest facilities, lack of market information and market outlets. Furthermore, areas devoted to coffee shrank due to expansion in other crops such as coconut and other high-value crops.