Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Coffee stakeholders scale up NorMin’s coffee roadmap, to brand Bukidnon as Arabica capital

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Department of Agriculture – Regional Field Office 10 (DA-10), led by Regional Executive Director Jose Apollo Y. Pacamalan, recently convened coffee stakeholders for a public-private consultation to consolidate plans, programs, and funding for scaling up Northern Mindanao’s coffee roadmap

The consultation was attended by representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry – Region 10 (DTI-10), local government units (LGUs), farmers’ cooperatives, agribusiness enterprises, and DA Undersecretary for the High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP), Cheryl Marie Natividad-Caballero.

DA-10’s RED Pacamalan emphasized the need for a unified direction among stakeholders to drive the development of the region’s coffee industry.

A resolution to adopt the Bukidnon Coffee Roadmap for 2025, aiming to establish the province as the Arabica capital of the country, is poised for approval, as disclosed by Kimberly A. Bacasma, senior trade-industry development specialist at DTI-10.

She also identified challenges in coffee cultivation, such as outdated methods, fragmented growers, limited marketing avenues, and insufficient financial resources for expansion as focus areas for roadmap development.

Undersecretary Natividad-Caballero recommended consolidating existing interventions at the farmer, firm, and industry levels to ensure effective operationalization.

Furthermore, the undersecretary advocated for the strategic utilization and maximization of the Competitiveness Enhancement Measures Fund (CEMF) to attract public investments.

The CEMF can fund coffee-related projects up to PhP50 million, subject to the proponents’ eligibility, with a 20% counterpart required from qualified proponents. These grants can support initiatives in production, postharvest handling, processing, marketing, infrastructure development, and the acquisition of equipment and facilities.

For its part, RED Pacamalan vowed that DA-10’s drone team would undertake drone mapping to identify coffee farming areas, determine coffee varieties, and profile the farmers operating in those areas.

“Through this digitization, we can establish baseline data to consolidate coffee farmers, which will serve as a foundation for the region’s coffee industry development over the next 2 to 3 years,” he said.

After the consultation, the executive director advocated for provincial-level dialogue to explore specific action plans, align initiatives, and identify essential government infrastructure investments for the undertaking.

Key partners and stakeholders, including Nestlé Philippines’ Coffee+Project, Mindanao Development Authority’s (MinDA) Ancestral Domain Investment Plans, and DTI-10’s Rural Agro-Enterprise Partnership for Inclusive Development and Growth (RAPID Growth) Project, shared their initiatives aligned with the Northern Mindanao Coffee Roadmap.

Also present during the consultation were DA-10 Regional Technical Director for Operations Carlota S. Madriaga, HVCDP Director Joseph C. Manicad, national and regional DA personnel, and representatives from Bayanihan Millenium Multipurpose Cooperative, Kauyagan Savers Multipurpose Cooperative, Lamac Multipurpose Cooperative, MM Cares, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Harbest Agribusiness Corp., and the local government units of Misamis Oriental, Iligan City, and Bukidnon. (BJCE)

Agri NorMin lauds AMIA villages in first congress

MALAYBALAY CITY, Bukidnon – To showcase the different climate-resilient communities in the region, the Department of Agriculture – Regional Field Office 10 (DA-RFO 10) through its Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture (AMIA) conducts an awarding for the AMIA villages during its 1st AMIA-10 Congress on July 11-12, at the Northern Mindanao Agricultural Crops and Livestock Research Complex, in Dalwangan, here

With this year’s theme, “Klima atimana para sa malahutayong pag-uma ug ekonomiya,” the event gathered farmer-beneficiaries, local government units, and other stakeholders to share the success and innovations of the 11 AMIA villages in the region.

Climate Resilient Agriculture Office National Director Alicia G. Ilaga noted that apart from building climate-resilient communities, the AMIA program also seeks to eradicate poverty.

“Mithiin nating mai-level up ang ating mga AMIA village mula sa pagiging maliliit na production units, papunta sa market-oriented climate-resilient enterprises o yung tinatawag nating AMIA Climate-Resilient Agri-Fishery Technology-based Enterprises (AMIA CREATE),” the CRAO director added.

As such, AMIA-10 held a Booth Display contest with the criteria: number of products displayed (30 percent), quality of products displayed (25 percent), landscape and display (25 percent), and question and answer (20 percent).

Of which, Libona AMIA village of Bukidnon emerged as the first placer, followed by Manolo Fortich of Bukidnon and Magsaysay AMIA Village of Misamis Oriental, as second and third placers, respectively.

Meanwhile, select AMIA villages in its Phase 3 level of implementation also presented their best practices and adjudged with the criteria: productivity and income (30 percent), technologies and practices employed (25 percent), readiness to entrepreneurship (20 percent), ability to present (15 percent) and question and answer (10 percent).

Manolo Fortich AMIA village topped for the AMIA village Presenter Award, while Magsaysay, Libona, and Baungon AMIA villages followed as the second, third, and fourth placers, respectively. (AMBM)

Negosyante, investor sa Bukidnon, gidasig magkuha sa certificate of registration

Gidasig ang mga negosyante ug investors sa Bukidnon, nga magkuha sa Certificate of Registration sa ilang mga negosyo sa Provincial Government of Bukidnon (PGB)

Tumong aron makapahimulos sila sa fiscal ug non-fiscal incentives pinaagi sa PGO-Local Economic Development and Investment Promotions Office (LEDIPO) subay sa Bukidnon Investment Code of 2021.

Sumala sa pahibalo sa PGB, lakip sa listahan nga anaa sa Investment Priority Areas sama sa agri-business, forestry-based industries, service-related industries, tourism related establishments, support services, ug waste management and waste disposal projects.

Kini alang niadtong mga proyekto, sama sa new projects, expansion projects, modernization projects, ug diversification projects, diin adunay gitakda nga filing fee nga nagkantidad sa nagkadaiyang klasipikasyon : large enterprises – ₱50,000; medium – ₱20,000; small- ₱5,000, ug micro – ₱1,000.

Alang sa dugang detalye ang mga hingtundan mamahimong magbisita sa opisina sa PGO-LEDIPO nga nahimutang sa National and Provincial Building, Capitol Compound, syudad sa Malaybalay, o mag message sa Ledipo Bukidnon Facebook page. (Diego M. Hidalgo)

WCCC, BVRC buildings gisugdan na sa pagtukod

Gisugdan sa pagtukod sa Provincial Government of Bukidnon (PGB) ang Women and Children Crisis Center (WCCC) ug Bukidnon Vocational Resource Center (BVRC)

Gpatuman ang proyekto sa pinaagi sa Provincial Engineering Office (PEO).

Sumala sa kasayoran, ang duha ka mga gambalay ipabarug diha sa Grandstand, Sumpong, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon.

Ang Women and Children Crisis Center gitagan-an sa probinsya og pondo nga sobra ₱12.8-M.

Samtang sobra ₱7.3-M usab ang sa Bukidnon Vocational Resource Center.

Kini base sa naaprubahan nga contract of agreement tali DevDrex Construction Services ug Mamawag Construction.

Mahinumduman nga una nang gipondohan sa PGB ang 392.48 meters nga katas-on sa perimeter fence sa maong dapit, nga naka-kontrata sa Shabe Enterprises, sa contract cost ₱4,090,904.33. (Diego M. Hidalgo)