Gov’t eyes to double abaca prod’n by 2022

MANILA, Philippines -  The Department of Agriculture (DA) is targeting to almost double the local production of abaca by the end of the Duterte administration as it eyes expansion areas in major producing regions.

The Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA), a DA-attached agency, said it targets to produce 162,420 metric tons (MT), up 95 percent from the 83,357 MT in 2016.

The target production will include pulp, ropes and cordages, fiber crafts and raw fiber exports, among others.

“We will not just focus on abaca. We have already started in terms of developing sea salt, silkworm, and cotton. We will also create new industries,” PhilFIDA executive director Kennedy Costales said.

“All natural fibers, we will engage now. We will increase the production and plant all natural fibers,” he added.

For the next five years, data showed demand at the national level will increase to 120,000 MT from the current 90,000 MT.

The Philippines is only producing an average of around 60,000 MT to 70,000 MT per year.

In terms of area expansion, PhilFIDA targets to reach at least 50,000 hectares planted with abaca from the existing 17,000 hectares nationwide.

The DA is seeking a huge jump of P3.2 billion for the development of the abaca industry next year, as it shifts to abaca tuxy buying instead of the conventional way of handling the agriculture produce.

The proposed P3.2 billion budget for 2018 is more than 900 percent surge from the current allocation of P300 million.

The department is now pursuing the proposed abaca tuxy buying project which will be implemented all over abaca producing provinces, and is a deviation from the traditional process of the abaca fiber extraction and harvesting.

“Farmers are shying away from the plantation plant. They no longer want to do abaca since it’s very tedious. I have already presented it to most regions. It’s a matter of them to organize themselves into cooperatives,” Costales said.

The traditional abaca process has 12 steps – topping, tumbling, tuxing, stripping, sun drying, sorting, hanking, bundling, carrying, storing, transporting, and trading.

But, the DA wants to cut it short to six process which will include topping, tumbling, tuxying, tuxy bundling, tuxy transporting, and tuxy trading.

Costales said the new process will allow farmers to produce all the abaca tuxies they want for the day before selling it to the cooperative that same day.

The abaca farmers will sell their individual abaca tuxy produce per harvest per day of at least 100 kilos to a maximum of 250 kilos each to their cooperative at least once or twice a week.