Local coffee stakeholders are urging the government for the creation of an updated coffee industry roadmap of the country.

The Philippine Coffee Board Inc. (PCBI) told reporters during the first Philippine Coffee Sustainability Congress in Makati City yesterday that such move is crucial as the country remains dependent on imported supply.

Pacita Juan, PCBI president and co-chair, said that even if the government wants to improve the production of coffee in the country, the availability of enough coffee seedlings should be among the things that must be resolved first.

“We lack accredited nurseries, we need to localize nurseries and teach farmers how they can have their own community nurseries. So, we are talking to the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) if that can be done,” she said.

Juan added that at present, coffee farmers that would like to test their soils and crops have to personally go to the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

PCBI also said that at present, among the government’s most active support in the local coffee sector is limited to the provision of coffee roasting facilities.

The group said that the country’s demand for coffee is between 150,000 metric tons (MT) to 200,000 MT, while production is only at around 30,000 MT to 33,000 MT, with the balance of 120,000 MT being filled by imports.

PCBI also said then that the national average of coffee production in the Philippines is currently between 500 to 700 kg per hectare.

During the same event, the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) said that the local coffee sector should be provided with a funding of at least P3 billion which can be sourced from existing agricultural tariff collections.

Danilo Fausto, PCAFI president, said that around P5 billion is available from agricultural tariff collections, with 60 percent of which has come from coffee.

He said that P3 billion of the P5 billion can be coursed through the BPI, which in turn can work in the development of new coffee varieties, new seeds and planting materials.

But Fausto said that the amount from the said source can only be utilized if such move will be made into law, and included in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

“The fund is there, deposited in the National Treasury. All we have to do is put it in the GAA and get that money and give that to the BPI,” he explained. 

This article first appeared on Malaya Business Insight.