DAVAO CITY—The regional Department of Agriculture (DA) here plans to embark on a P49-million rehabilitation of old cacao trees and to apply appropriate farm technology to manage cacao farms.
The rehabilitation would involve pruning and application of fertilizers to arrest the declining production of cacao, the DA-High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) said.
The rehabilitation targets are the senile and unproductive cacao trees not less than 10 years old. Farmers would be provided with “a package of technical assistance and training, and provision of pruning equipment and fertilizers,” HVCDP coordinator Melani Provido said.
Of the rehabilitation fund, P42 million would be used to buy fertilizer; P6 million to acquire the pruning shears and pruning saw; and P1 million for the budding knife.
Provido said it has tapped industry experts from Kennemer Foods International Inc. (KFI) to establish technical and demonstration sites for cacao rehabilitation “to ensure appropriate technologies are observed.”
The KFI is the country’s leading buyer of cacao beans for domestic and export markets, and has been noted to provide training for farmers on good agricultural practices in cacao production not only in the region, but other cacao areas in the country, the DA said.
She said the rehabilitation of identified cacao farms would “sustain the region as the leading producer of quality cacao beans in the country.”
The DA-HVCDP has established cacao-rehabilitation demonstration farms in Davao del Sur, Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental. Similar farms are eyed to be established in Davao City and Davao del Norte.
Juby Quiñaso, designated DA-HVCDP focal person on cacao, said the rehabilitation process involves the following steps: Identification of trees 10 years and older, formative pruning on cacao trees; execution of chupon grafting or side grafting using selected scion or budstick (depending on the choice of the farmer); and fertilizer application using the recommended rates.
“One year after rehabilitation, farmers could expect an increase in yield and improved quality of cacao beans,” Quiñaso said.
The DA already cited successes in these attempts to become the models in the rehabilitation program. It said the farm of Eddie Sajulga in Santa Maria, Davao del Sur, and Abdul Moen Felipe in Mati, Davao Oriental, may provide lessons to other farmers to entice them to adapt to the rehabilitation of their farms.
Sajulga said he already lost hope of his cacao farm but availed himself of the DA’s rehabilitation assistance.
“I thought there was no more hope for our cacao trees to be productive, but with the rehabilitation assistance and the technologies shared to us, I can now look forward to profitable cacao farming,” Sajulga said.
Felipe was ahead of Sajulga: Felipe has already abandoning his farm already. He returned to his farm, however, after he attended a demonstration activity at reviving the cacao farms. He said he already acquired the skills to restore the production of his cacao farm.