Coffee, pine trees can grow together – study

Coffee and pine trees are no strange bedfellows.

They can co-exist, with one benefiting from the presence of the other, it was found in studies done by the Benguet State University (BSU) in La Trinidad, Benguet.

For the past two decades, BSU has been growing Arabica coffee side by side with Pine trees under its Institute of Highland Farming Systems and Agroforestry in three hectares within the 150-ha IHFSA area in La Trinidad.

Last year, the 12,000 Arabica trees within the experimental area yielded 1,000 kilos of dried shelled coffee beans, Silvestre Aben, head of the coffee project, told this writer.

On top of the income derived from the venture, the coffee trees can also help prevent soil erosion.

Moreover, the seedlings that germinate on the ground from falling mature coffee beans are added sources of income. These can be sold to commercial coffee planters at P15 apiece (to make up for the expenses such as plastic bag and soil where the seedling is grown and the expenses incurred, watering for instance, in growing the plantlet).

However, BSU, as a public service to the farming sector, is giving the seedlings to small farmers for free.

Last year alone, Aben said, the project produced 20,000 seedlings. – Rudy A. Fernandez