Farmers in Canlaon City, Negros Oriental are hopeful that with proper training and support from the local and provincial governments, they can increase their production of coffee with an assured market that will rake in more income.
Eric Eleccion, chair of the farmers’ association Mag-uumang Lumad sa Barangay Masulog-Bukidnon Tribe, said on Tuesday that one dilemma they are facing is the lack of consistent buyers of coffee beans, forcing them to sell their yields for as low as P20 a kilo.
Eleccion is one of 20 farmers from three different associations in Canlaon City who attended the Farm-to-Cup Seminar on Tuesday at the Sidlakang Negros Village here.
“Due to the lack of assured buyers of our coffee beans, many of us in the Indigenous People’s community in Canlaon City have decided to shift to planting vegetables instead as the returns are faster,” Mirondo said.
He said the 92-strong association previously planted 14 hectares of land with coffee, but these were destroyed during the onslaught of Typhoon
