While it cannot be said that the Philippines have ever grown coffee
on a scale that made it an important factor in the world's market,
yet, before the advent of the coffee blight, coffee growing, from a
Philippine point of view, was an industry of considerable magnitude
and unquestionably of great promise. However, in the Philippines as
in other parts of the eastern Tropics, the blight destroyed the coffee
industry, and while in the last few years previous to the appearance of
the blight there was an average annual export of about 7,000 tons of
coffee, valued at P4,000,000, in 1913 the Philippines produced only
113,031 kilograms of Arabian coffee with an average production of
174 kilograms per hectare, the coffee imports during the same period
amounting to 1,138,781 kilograms, valued at P816,744. The leading
coffee-producing provinces of the Archipelago were, during 1913, the
Mountain, 42,066 kilograms; Moro, 31,040 kilograms; Nueva Vizcaya,
5,792 kilograms; and Batangas, 5,319 kilograms. Varying quantities
of coffee, less than 5,000 kilograms in any one, were produced in
each of the remaining provinces, excepting Agusan, Bataan, Batanes,
Ilocos Sur, Leyte, Pampanga, and Surigao, where coffee is not grown.
From a study of the coffee situation in the Eastern Hemisphere it is
evident that Arabian coffee will never again become of importance in
this part of the world, including of course the Philippines. However,
it seems that a satisfactory substitute has been discovered in the
robusta coffee. This variety, while not immune to the blight, is so
resistant to the effects thereof that the disease ceases to affect
the profits of the crop, or at least very slightly.
This and other reasons, which will be explained later, have resulted
in the planting of robusta coffee on a very large scale in Java
and adjacent Dutch possessions, and the reports relative to this
variety are such as to recommend it to the serious consideration
of Philippine planters. The present paper has been prepared with a
view of meeting the almost daily requests that reach this Bureau for
information on the subject of coffee, and particularly to give some
information relative to the robusta coffee, with which practically
all planters in the Archipelago are unfamiliar. It might perhaps be
well to state that propagation, handling of the plants from the seed
bed to the plantation, culture, etc., are the same for both Arabian
and robusta coffee, except where so stated.
Arabian Coffee.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account