The cover story of the January, 2013 issue of Agriculture Magazine is on Arabica coffee in the Cordillera. This is one special crop that is being given special push in Sagada, Mt. Province today.

Melpha M. Abello, staff member, travelled to Sagada to meet with coffee farmers as well as with Aida Abeya, an agriculturist who is the focal person on coffee in Sagada.

Current production in Sagada is small, just 11 metric tons but the target is to make it at least 13 tons in the coming year. There is very good reason to promote the production of this special variety of coffee because of the high demand and the high price offered. Abello learned that farm gate prices for green beans range from P180 to P250 per kilo. That’s almost three to four times the price of the same in 2005 which was P64.75 per kilo.

Agriculture Magazine, by the way, is now off the press and should be available in nationwide outlets in a few days.

As of now, most Arabica plantings are found in backyards although there are also some that are grown in farms. Abello reports that in Sagada, about 50 hectares are planted to some 58,000 new coffee trees. These could augment production shortly. The farmers are planting four strains of Arabica coffee, the favorite being Typica. The others are San Ramon, Bourbon and Mundo Novo.

GIANT MUD CRAB – There is also a feature on a giant mudcrab propagation program that was launched in Oriental Mindoro about a year ago. The mudcrubs are said to have come from Zamboanga, thanks to the help of some members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). In trials in the past year, crablets had a successful rate of survival, and the crabs grew to an average of 350 grams per piece, making them attractive to exporters.

Bt CORN GROWERS IN SOUTH – Tony Rodriguez writes about two successful Bt corn farmers in South Cotabato who are sharing the improved techniques of production to other farmers.

These are Augusto Hechanova and Resty Buca of Brgy. Kalkam, Tupi town. They are achieving high yields by growing the Bt varieties.

KOREAN AGRI-ENTREPRENEUR – From Mindanao, Tony Rodriguez went to Alfonso, Cavite, to meet Min Haeng Lee, a young Korean architecture graduate who grows different varieties of lettuce. He uses drip irrigation in growing his crops.

PROBIOTICS IN POULTRY – Those who are raising chickens will be happy to read the column of Dr. Jaime Abella Sison. He reports that broiler lameness may be reduced by probiotics.

PECTIN FROM MANGO PEEL – The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) has developed a technology that could extract pectin from mango peels which are just thrown away or made into compost.

Melpha Abello who wrote the report said that pectin from mango is comparable in quality with the pectin derived from apple. Pectin is used as stabilizer, and as gelling and thickening agent by the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.

Imported pectin costs P27,000 per kilo. On the other hand, the cost of producing a kilo of pectin from mango peels is only P6,000.

ALL-SEASON STRAWBERRY – You will also read about the all-season strawberry being grown by Francis Ching in Cada, Mangkayan, Benguet. The variety is called Festival which is said to be hardy and the fruits have excellent shipping quality. They can withstand stress during long travel better than the traditional varieties grown by other farmers.

Ching grows his Festival strawberry even during the off-season. That’s why he is able to command a high price of as much as P300 to P400 per kilo during the off months.

TRICYCLE DRIVER WHO MADE MILLIONS FROM VEGGIES – You will also read about the detailed story of Nestor Kalaw, a marine engineering graduate who was a tricycle driver in Manila for five years. Then he discovered that there is more money in high-value vegetables. He returned to his native Lipa City, rented some land for growing vegetables for a start in 2000. Now he owns 8 hectares and also rents 16 hectares for growing his favorite Django pepper, D’Max tomato and Galactica ampalaya. In 2012, he made P6.7 million from Django that he planted to three hectares. That’s because he sold his harvest at P250 per kilo.

GRAFTED AMPALAYA – You will also read about the advantages of growing grafted ampalaya. Although each seedling costs P17 each compared to P4 or P5 for the ungrafted, the grafted plants are more productive. They produce an additional 10 harvests in their life span, according to the experts at East-West Seed which is promoting the technology. The ampalaya scions are grafted into patola seedlings.

TAIWAN FARM TOUR PLANNED – Toto Barcelona of Harbest Agribusiness is planning to conduct a farm tour in Taiwan sometime in 2013 (no fixed date yet). He and members of his family are now vacationing in Taiwan but he will be back in time for a dinner date with Dr. William Dar of ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute For the Semi-Arid Tropics) on January 4.

What is good when Toto leads the farm tour is that he has access to many interesting farms, including those of Known-You Seed Co. He stayed in Taiwan for a long time and also speaks the language in Taiwan.

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