Bringing Bukidnon coffee to higher levels of productivity, quality

Pangantucan, Bukidnon – The mystic beauty of Lake Napalit is not the only thing the town of Pangantucan has to offer. Its chilly climate has made its fertile lands ideal for one of the country’s best arabica coffee, as proven in the recent Philippine Coffee Quality Competition (PCQC). 

In the competition held at the World Trade Center Manila in June as part of the Philippine Coffee Expo, Manolito Garces of Finca de Garces bagged first place in the Arabica category. Another farmer, Arnold Pina from the town’s Bayanihan Millennium Multipurpose Cooperative (BMMPC) got sixth place in the same category. 

With the quality of its coffee proven to be top-notched, more market opportunities have become available. But the farmers of Pangantucan cannot produce enough volume to meet demands. Another challenge is augmenting their income while waiting for harvest. 

The academe and development institutions have come together to address these challenges.

Research and development to improve practices

BMMPC, together with the Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) and the Central Mindanao University (CMU), signed a memorandum of agreement in May 2023 to establish a coffee demonstration and research project in Pangantucan. 

The project aims to showcase sustainable coffee agricultural practices to enhance farm productivity, improve quality, and ensure the economic resilience of smallholder farmers. 

Other enablers will also pitch in for this project: Department of Trade and Industry RAPID Growth Region 10 for coffee seedlings, East-West Seed for assorted vegetable seedlings and technical support, Education Development Center on farm maintenance, and the municipal agriculturist of Pangantucan on monitoring and dissemination of the research. 

“This collaboration could provide us with documentation of the best farming system and practices for coffee based on economic and scientific evidence we have gathered during the research.” PEF Area Officer Redentor Aquino said. 

With the improvement of practices comes bigger opportunities for the coffee farmers of the municipality. With their victories in the PCQC and overwhelming support from the industry, sky has become the limit.