Growing intercrops in coconut lands produces more food and agricultural products, ensuring food security for the people in rural and urban areas. Coffee on the other hand, is one of the high-value crops growing as a monocrop or intercrop with coconuts thus, with this practice, enhancing farm incomes.
Intercropping coffee with coconut is also an identified component under the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan.
As CFIDP continues, ATI-RTC 8 is mandated to conduct training for AEWs and farmers in collaboration with DA-RFO 8 High Value Crop Development Program (HVCDP). This aims to enhance the capability of participants, the agricultural extension workers in the local government units and farmer leaders on the production, processing, value-adding, and entrepreneurial skills of the coconut-coffee farming system in preparation for the farmer-level training.
This is part of the re-entry plans of the Coconut Training Specialist graduates at ATI-RTC 8 wherein they also served as resource persons at the three-day training.
Mr. Mateo Palajoren, SFW-SCFO Vice Chairman, shares “Drawing on my experience as the vice chair of this organization, I am truly grateful for the assistance we have received. This is not the first time we have received help, but I greatly appreciate the approach of this program. The fact that we undergo training before planning and receiving coffee planting materials is a significant improvement compared to a previous experience where we received cacao planting materials first and training came later, resulting in failure.”
With the training and strategy of input provision, participants are dedicated to share and impart the knowledge they acquire during the training with their fellow members of the association. Similarly, association members who already have coffee plants are encouraged to implement effective coffee plant management techniques demonstrated during the training. Further, members may also choose to engage in a collective effort to ensure proper pruning and fertilizer application for their coffee plants.
The training also served as an avenue to urge other members of the association to strongly advocate the idea of attending training sessions as a mandatory prerequisite before receiving planting materials or any agricultural inputs from government agencies and other organizations.
Two batches with a total of 41 participants attended the Training on Coconut-Coffee Farming System simultaneously conducted on September 26-28, 2023 in Naval, Biliran and Alangalang, Leyte.(With written reports from Concepcion B. Miro and Benjamin B. Lagaday)
