The Department of Agriculture (DA) will put up a coffer mother plant garden and nursery in Aurora province, which is part of its overall plan to establish key coffee plantations by 2011, with the end in view of enhancing the competitive advantage of the country’s coffee industry.

Similar plantations are being eyed in Bohol and Mindoro, two other major producers of coffee.

Based on reports from the High Value Commercial Crops (HVCC) Program, 41,675 seedlings have already been planted in Mindoro.

In Aurora, a total of 500 coffee seedlings have been placed in the mother plant garden. On the other hand, the plan is to expand the current hectarage and create a productive 300-hectare coffee plantation in Bohol.

To date, a total of 9,000 coffee seedlings have been distributed and transplanted to key Bohol municipalities, which accounts for 25 percent of the 100 hectares allotted for the coffee production project in the province.

DA has undertaken these enhancement programs and projects in collaboration with Nestle Philippines Inc through a memorandum of agreement inked last year aimed at supporting coffee farmers in expanding and enriching their farms to transform them into coffee plantations.