Sunshine Genivive S. Molintas, a coffee farmer-entrepreneur is one of the national finalists for the Gawad Saka’s Outstanding High Value Crops (HVC) Farmer for Plantation Crops. Last April 3, Molintas underwent onsite validation by the National Validators composed of Mr. Enrique Dela Cruz, Department of Agriculture (DA) National Focal Person on Coffee, and Mr. Marlon Manabat of the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Services (AMAS).
Molintas is the Manager of QRS farms and Administrator of the Kape-aralan Training Institute accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
She is a licensed Agricultural Biosystems Engineer (ABE) by profession and also a licensed Coffee Quality Institute – Robusta Quality Grader. She began her career in the field of research then worked in the government, particularly the Dept. of Trade and Industry, as a Development Specialist. In 2019, she decided to leave government work and focused on the revival and maintenance of their QRS coffee farm in Bantay, Tabuk, Kalinga. She then became a coffee mentor starting the year 2020, mentoring interested individuals and groups on coffee production, management and even processing and marketing.
Molintas stands as a shining example of what can be achieved when passion, purpose, and responsibility come together. She is not only reshaping the coffee industry but also empowering communities to build a brighter and more sustainable future through her vision, which earned her various recognitions from different agencies and organizations. Her latest developmental goal is to become an agri-tourism farm for coffee.
Mr. dela Cruz congratulated Molintas for her efforts on coffee that extends to the communities. He noted that the coffee industry is on the rise considering its increasing demand not only in the Philippines but nationwide. Accordingly, the country is the 5th largest coffee consumer worldwide, however, it only produces about 30 thousand metric tons (MT) which is only more or less 10% of the total annual consumption of 348 thousand MT. Thus, he lauded Molintas for becoming not only a producer, but also a teacher-mentor training other farmers and incoming generations on quality coffee production and processing. He stressed, however, that there is a need to improve on coffee production maximizing the available lands to be able to catch up with the demand.
During the validation, the validators conducted onsite table evaluation of documents submitted including modes of verification, personal interview and site visit to both the production area and processing center of Molintas in Tabuk.
The Gawad Saka Plantation Crops nominees are being evaluated based on three major areas of consideration namely the farmer (35 points) in terms of character, discipline and commitment; the farm (50%) in terms of farm/crop management system and bio-diversity/sustainable practices, and social impact (15%) referring to the farmer’s contributions to the community.
Gawad Saka is the most prestigious award being awarded by the Department in recognition of outstanding farmers, fisherfolks, rural-based organizations and other individuals for their exemplary contributions towards agricultural advancement. It was re-implemented this year after being postponed in FY 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Gawad Saka national awardees will be announced and awarded in May in time for the Farmers and Fisherfolks Month Celebration.
The DA-CAR HVCD Program, Kalinga Provincial Agriculture Office, Tabuk City- Office of the City Agricultural Services, Barangay Bantay, Tabuk Local government unit, and the Kape-Aralan trainees showed their full support and assistance during the national validation. By JBAgrifino
