Nestlé trains coffee farmers

MANILA, Philippines - Regional officials of the Department of Agriculture from Bicol, Iloilo, Bohol, Mindoro and Cavite participated in a two-day seminar at the Nestlé Experimental and Demonstration Farm (NEDF) in Tagum, Davao del Sur last Sept. 28-29. The seminar is part of an ongoing memorandum of agreement between Nestlé Philippines, manufacturer of the country’s leading coffee brand Nescafé, and the DA, which stipulates an exchange of expertise between the two parties.

The NEDF provides a venue for educating farmers on the sustainable coffee growing and production and for distribution of good coffee planting materials sold at cost.

This is why the DA regional officials believe that the training they receive from the NEDF which they will pass on to their respective areas will arouse interest among coffee farmers.

“The coffee farmers back at our home are looking forward to learn about the new coffee methods that we learned here in the NEDF,” said Ailyn Rafer, the project proponent of Community-Based Participatory Action Research on Coffee and Cacao of Region 5, Camarines Norte. She added that they will begin training 40 coffee farmers using the new knowledge they gained from NEDF and then eventually train more farmers in the future.

Likewise, Eugene C. Cahiles, the project manager of the Coffee and Cacao Production Program of Region 7, Bohol, also said that the coffee farmers back in his homeland became excited upon learning about the NEDF Coffee Technology training especially since their region is an ideal place for planting robusta, a variety that’s most prevalent in the Philippines.

“Initially, the farmers in our region did not know that their coffee farms had robusta plants,” said Cahiles. “Now that they are aware, they are eager to learn and apply the coffee planting methods that we will learn here especially since Bohol is a mountainous and an elevated area which is ideal for growing robusta plants.”

In addition, Eda Dimapilis, Agricultural Program Coordinating Officer of Cavite, adds that the NEDF’s training will help rejuvenate the coffee farms in her area.

“One of our goals in Cavite is to establish a demo coffee farm similar to the one in Davao. That way our coffee farmers can have a clear picture of what they can accomplish in their farms using the new planting methods we learned here in the NEDF,” Dimapilis said.

Among the topics covered during the coffee technology training were the new coffee production technologies, coffee economics, coffee propagation, nursery establishment and maintenance, plantation establishment and care, harvesting and post-harvesting, quality control, coffee rejuvenation and rehabilitation and marketing.

The training culminated with the DA regional officials’ tour of the NEDF and an actual practicum in which they applied what they have learned from the lectures on the demo farm itself.

The DA officials were particularly appreciative of the coffee-based sustainable farming technology developed by Nestlé which encourages planting using stem cuttings from high-yielding robusta plants. Coffee farmers in the Philippines are more accustomed to the old way of using coffee seeds to grow coffee.

“Had I not seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it. I am more used to seeing coffee farms that began with coffee seedlings rather than stem-cuttings,” said Marcial Rustique, a DA representative from Camarines Norte who has a coffee farm himself.

The successful training of the DA regional officials at the NEDF further strengthens the commitment of Nestlé to helping the Philippine coffee industry. By equipping coffee farmers with the latest methods and techniques in coffee production, Nestlé assures the consumers of Nescafé of the best cup of coffee everyday.