Attended by 65 farmers and guests, University of Southern Mindanao (USM), in collaboration with Nestle Philippines, conducted a Coffee Harvest Festival highlighting fertilizer treatment options to boost the productivity of Robusta coffee on 1 March 2024 at Brgy. Kulaman, Senator Ninoy Aquino, Sultan Kudarat.
The abovementioned information is part of the preliminary results of the project titled, Productivity Assessment of Robusta Coffee Applied with Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers in Mindanao funded by the DA-Bureau of Agricultural Research under the DA-High Value Crops Development Program.
Leandreux Ocasion, project leader, shared the various activities conducted. These include field establishment of fertilizer trials, soil and leaf sampling, fertilizer application, agronomic data analysis, and data collection on yield.
Farmers' adoption of appropriate cultural management practices, recommended time and amount of fertilizer application, and proper harvesting can lead to an increase in the production yield of coffee.
“Para makatulong sa community at magkakapeng Pilipino ang proyekto po ay nagnanais maibahagi ang mga cultural practices at kasama na ang pagbibigay ng IEC materials sa ating mga magkakape. Isang observation after the fertilizer treatments of the farmers, ang daming bulaklak ng kape-isang indikasyon na maganda at kalidad ang magiging harvest ng green coffee beans or GCB,” Ocasion said.
The notable results of the project study will help update the Philippine National Standard for Good Agricultural Practice for coffee and help the government in crafting policies and programs for farmers and the coffee industry, he added.
To ensure sustainability, USM, Nestle Philippines, Inc. DA-HVCDP, and Local Government Units will be facilitating technology transfer activities on the developed POTs to the coffee farmer cooperators and stakeholders.
“Marami akong natutunang teknolohiya mula sa project tulad ng tamang sukat ng pag-apply ng fertilizer at pag-alam ng iba’t-ibang pests and diseases ng kape. Lalo na pwede pala isama ang organic at inorganic fertilizer. Marami pang naitulong tulad ng pruning, cutting at grafting at de-pulping. Pati po pag-apply ng iba’t ibang klase ng abono”.
Thus said Edwin Batilo, president of Tinalon Farmers Association and Nestle Coffee ambassador, during the festival.