High tech coffee mill inaugurated in Atok, Benguet
Posted on | Tuesday 22 March 2011 | No Comments
by Joseph B Zambrano
ATOK, Benguet, Wednesday March 23 - This municipality, which is the top producer of coffee in the province, has now one of the most high tech and “eco friendly” Arabica coffee mills in the country.
The mill is equipped with depulping and dehulling machines. It is also equipped with a high capacity washer that recycles water for as much as 10 times and a dryer. Waste water is directed to a septic tank while coffee pulps and hulls are composted to become organic fertilizers for coffee trees.
In partnership with Rocky Mountain Cafe (RMC), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Benguet State University (BSU), and the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO), the mill was inaugurated on March 19 at Km. 30, Topdac, Atok.
The ceremony was attended by Atok coffee farmers who witnessed a short demonstration of the coffee mill processes.
We do not only want to empower farmers but we also want to be an example of good farming practices. With a 7.2 metric tons capacity per day, the mill will spare workers from manual, and from heavy and time consuming labor, said RMC president Pierre Yves Cote.
Cote envisions that the Philippines will be the top producer of coffee in the world and to realize this, RMC partnered with BSU to train coffee farmers in coffee seed selection, preparation, nursery establishment, field planting and maintenance, common pests and diseases of Arabica coffee and their management, harvesting, post harvesting, and coffee tree rejuvenation.
According to coffee farmer, Sigfred Cholin,an engineer, fresh coffee beans are sold to RMC for P26/kilo which farmers welcomed because they no longer have to depulp, wash, dry and dehull coffee beans manually.*(PIA CAR)
ATOK, Benguet, Wednesday March 23 - This municipality, which is the top producer of coffee in the province, has now one of the most high tech and “eco friendly” Arabica coffee mills in the country.
The mill is equipped with depulping and dehulling machines. It is also equipped with a high capacity washer that recycles water for as much as 10 times and a dryer. Waste water is directed to a septic tank while coffee pulps and hulls are composted to become organic fertilizers for coffee trees.
In partnership with Rocky Mountain Cafe (RMC), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Benguet State University (BSU), and the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO), the mill was inaugurated on March 19 at Km. 30, Topdac, Atok.
The ceremony was attended by Atok coffee farmers who witnessed a short demonstration of the coffee mill processes.
We do not only want to empower farmers but we also want to be an example of good farming practices. With a 7.2 metric tons capacity per day, the mill will spare workers from manual, and from heavy and time consuming labor, said RMC president Pierre Yves Cote.
Cote envisions that the Philippines will be the top producer of coffee in the world and to realize this, RMC partnered with BSU to train coffee farmers in coffee seed selection, preparation, nursery establishment, field planting and maintenance, common pests and diseases of Arabica coffee and their management, harvesting, post harvesting, and coffee tree rejuvenation.
According to coffee farmer, Sigfred Cholin,an engineer, fresh coffee beans are sold to RMC for P26/kilo which farmers welcomed because they no longer have to depulp, wash, dry and dehull coffee beans manually.*(PIA CAR)
Category:
Benguet
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