Maasin City, Southern Leyte-Two hundred thousand (200,000) Robusta coffee seedlings are distributed to abaca farmers in Maasin whose abaca plantations were wiped out by the bunchy top virus in recent years. The distribution has started in time for the planting season last July up to the end of September of the current year.

This was disclosed by a staff of Congressman Roger Mercado?s District Office who does not want to be named. He said the aforementioned coffee seedlings were planted at Mercado?s nursery in Brgy. Bugo where newly-planted trees of different species can be viewed.

Mercado?s staff explained that the number of seedlings distributed to the abaca farmers have depended on the sizes of their lots. ?For one hectare land an estimated 1,666 seedlings are to be given in a 2X3 distant planting?, he said. ?For a one half hectare, half of the numbers being mentioned. And for a one fourth hectare lot, ? part of the total number of coffee seedlings of one hectare.?

He revealed Mercado also gave 25 kilograms of Robusta coffee seeds to Bontoc and 35 kilos to Hinunangan. He informed the LGUs have planted the coffee seeds in their own nurseries for distribution upon reaching plantable stage. These coffee seedlings are also for distribution to abaca farmers in the neighboring towns who are also interested to plant coffee trees.

If there are problems arising from the growth of the Robusta coffee plantations in the province, he said, Davao-Nestle Philippines? technicians would come to provide technical assistance to the concerned farmers. He claimed that Nestle Philippines who owns the Robusta coffee seedlings will be the one to buy the whole harvest of robusta coffee seeds every harvest season. This variety of coffee can bear fruits two times a year, he said.

Moreover, if the coffee plantation in various areas can regularly sustain a harvest of 50,000 tons of coffee seeds per year, he said, Nestle Philippines will establish a coffee processing plant in Southern Leyte.

He claimed that the target is not hard to achieve. ?If in my lowest estimate, every tree will yield just three kilos every harvesting season?, he said, ?then multiply that by 200,000 coffee trees, it can have a total of 600,000 kilos. Since one ton is equal to 1,000 kilos, the 50,000 tons coffee harvest per year is therefore reachable and achievable?.

Bunchy Top Background

The airborne virus has originated from 2 lakatan suckers from General Santos City brought to Mahaplag, Leyte for supposed propagation of the suckers. However, it failed to multiply because it was discovered by a plant disease expert to have infected with a bunchy top virus. This virus has later attacked sometime in 1999 the abaca plantations in Mahaplag, a northern town in the province in Leyte next to Sogod, Southern Leyte.

In less than 2 months time the plague has reached Sogod, which is about 25 kilometers away from Mahaplag, also attacking it abaca plantations. The dreadful disease had spread quickly to other municipalities of Southern Leyte like in Bontoc, Malitbog, P.Burgos, and Maasin. But the disease is less in St. Bernard and Hinunangan.

From that year up to the last year 2007, the spread of the disease has become uncontrollable. The chemical sprays worth millions of pesos for the prevention of the disease seemed to have a little effect. The farmer?s lack of necessary knowledge in the prevention and eradication of the plague and their ?usik attitude? has greatly contributed to the worsening of the damage, resulting to the wiping out of their abaca plantations.

The retrieval of some abaca fibers from the diseased plants for some cash using a scythe or a bolo was discovered to be contributory to the spread of the bunchy top virus. Using the same instrument to cut healthy abaca plants in other plantations has spread more the disease whose degree of transmission was already beyond control.

Coffee-producing Province

During the previous years from 1970 up to the 1980s, our source said, Southern Leyte is a coffee-producing province. However, when its thousands of hectares of abaca plantations in different municipalities have reached a plentiful harvest every year and was in great demand in the domestic and international market, the abaca farmers, who should be thankful for additional blessing of good coffee yields, ignorantly cut instead the matured fruit-bearing coffee trees planted inside the abaca plantations.

?The farmers? bad habit of cutting those fruit-bearing coffee plants for additional income?, said a concerned agriculturist here, “seemed to have boomerang to them when their abaca plantations were attacked by the bunchy top virus and wiped out. A kind of karmic debt that has to be paid.?

Nonetheless, a veteran farmer in one of the hinterland barangays here explained that the main reason why they cut the coffee plants grown inside the abaca farms was because the former have caused an adverse effect to the normal and healthy growth of abaca (guiawngan in Cebuano)

Furthermore, during the distribution of the coffee seedlings, our source also said, there were few old abaca farmers who did not want their share of the plantlets to be planted on their vacant lots. He said they still believed that they can get abaca suckers which they would prefer to be planted on their lots. ?But I don?t think they can get healthy suckers at this time because the virus that attacked the huge hectarages of the abaca plantations in the province were the same virus that is now inflicting bananas in some Maasin barangays?, said our source. (Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.)

About the Contributor:

Mr. Quirico M. Gorpido Jr was an erstwhile Correspondent/Contributor to the following weeklies and dailies: Tacloban-based regional weekly a 33-year-old The Reporter for many years(now defunct), a Cebu-based weekly The Visayan Express(now defunct),Cebu-based daily The Freeman(1994-1998) now a sister publication of The Philippine Star, Maasin-based weekly The Southern Leyte Times for three years, Tacloban-based daily The Leyte Samar Daily Express(2000-2001), Cebu-based daily the Cebu Daily News(2002-2003), Tacloban-based weekly 7-year-old Tribune(2003-2007).