balita-dot-ph, November 16, 2010 1:56 am

PILI, Camarines Sur, Nov. 15 – Camarines Sur is developing its vast area of idle lands into abaca plantations in a bid to capture the country’s top slot in fiber production presently held by its neighboring island province of Catanduanes.

“Under our Upland Development Plan, we are now working on the conversion of at least 93,000 hectares of currently unproductive land within the province into an abaca plantation that upland dwellers could make use as a more stable source of livelihood,” Lovenia Tolosa, the province’s Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) chief on Monday said.

The Fiber Industry Development Authority (FIDA) had a P1-million funding for this abaca revitalization program in the province and provincial Gov. Luis Raymund Villafuerte is tapping international sources for more funds, Tolosa said.

The money would be needed to acquire disease-free planting materials recently developed by the FIDA, Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) and the Biotechnology Program Implementation Unit (BPIU) of the Department of Agriculture (DA), she said.

These planting materials are genetically engineered plantlets that are resistant to bunchy-top, mosaic and bract mosaic viruses whose propagation is an ongoing project started last year and would be completed in 2011.

FIDA regional director for Bicol Edith Lomerio said FIDA scientists have been studying the abaca bunchy-top virus since 1997 and are working on isolating genes from the pathogens and inserting them directly into the abaca’s DNA. Once the genes are “expressed” by the abaca, the plant will likely resist infection.

Another method of producing disease-free abaca plantlets is through tissue culture techniques or the growing and propagation of plant cells, tissues, and organs on an artificial medium under sterile and controlled environment.

At least 124,500 virus-free abaca plantlets are produced from 500 suckers. Tissue-cultured plantlets are sold at P4.50, a price that is very much lower than plantlets from conventional breeding method that sell at P8 to P10 apiece, Lomerio said.

It was in Catanduanes that disease-free abaca plantlets have been introduced more than three years ago to replace bunchy-top and mosaic infected plants.

With the 93,000-hectare plantation using disease-resistant planting materials, “we are almost certain of grabbing in the near future from Catanduanes the title as top abaca producer of the country,” Tolosa said.

FIDA records show that the country, as of 2008 had some 136,000 hectares of land planted to abaca. A big part of this area is distributed among various provinces that occupy the top 10 slots in the rate of production named according to ranking as Catanduanes, Southern Leyte, Leyte, Davao Oriental, Northern Samar, Davao del Sur, Surigao del Sur, Samar, Sulu and Sorsogon.

Catanduanes that has consistently held the top producer title since time immemorial had only around 23,600 hectares devoted to growing abaca and some 23,500 farmers that in the first five months of last year produced 8,646.32 metric tons of fiber. That output was 20 percent of the national production, FIDA records said.

Tolosa said Camarines Sur used to be one of the country’s top producers of abaca fiber more popularly known as Manila hemp but its plantations were ravaged by the mosaic and bunchy top and Tolosa said, as part of the components to rehabilitate the ailing abaca industry, the different government agencies have collaborated in eradicating the diseases.

She said a nursery covering about four hectares has been established in Presentacion town for the production of disease-free abaca planting materials. Two more nurseries, each with an area of four hectares are also set to be established in the municipalities of Del Gallego and Caramoan.

Tolosa said the provincial government recognizes the significant contribution of the local abaca industry to the country’s export earnings as well as to the poverty alleviation program of the government.

The abaca industry in the Bicol region remains one of the top abaca producers of the country together with Eastern Visayas and Southern Mindanao.

Available data from the DA showed that in 1999, Bicol region has 47,623 hectares of land area planted to abaca which was 44 percent or the largest of the country’s total.

Some 136,000 hectares nationwide are planted to abaca. Over 82,000 farmers directly subsist on abaca production. Annually, they produce some 70,000 metric tons of fiber, of which about 25 percent is shipped abroad, according to the FIDA.

The DA data source said that over the 10 years period between 1990 and1999, the country generated an average of about US million from exports of raw fiber and processed products like pulp, cordage, yarns and fabric and fibercrafts.

Based on the DA report, the production of abaca fiber in the country during that period averaged 64,863 metric tons (mt) per year with Eastern Visayas accounting for an annual average of 25,239 mt or 39 percent of the total production. Bicol region ranked second with its 21,243 mt or 33 percent share.

During that time, Camarines Sur contributed seven percent to the country’s total area planted to abaca but could only produce four percent of the national total production. It was them that the industry was on its dying stage in the province due to the plant diseases, according to Tolosa.

The low production was also attributed to the lack of interest among farmers to produce given their very meager earnings due to the existence of several layers of traders who pull down the prices at the farm gate.

All the government could do then was watch the industry dying until it completely vanished in Camarines Sur and other parts of the Bicol region. It was only lately that the government, through the FIDA, local government units and other agencies initiated effective moves to provide the industry a new lease on life, she said.

On the part of Camarines Sur, Tolosa said Gov. Villafuerte has been successful in sourcing out funds from outside the government coffers and is set to rehabilitate the abaca industry in the province.

“We will be in partnership with the DA, FIDA, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), LGUs and the private sectors like non-government organizations (NGOs) and farmer cooperatives in this endeavor,” she said.

Right now, Tolosa said, the establishment of pilot production sites and model farms is underway. “The present provincial administration is confident that it can tackle the problems confronting the abaca industry as it advances its solutions in five fronts– disease eradication; propagation of disease-free planting materials; provision of basic infrastructures; adoption of suitable technologies; and aggressive marketing and trade promotions.”

However, all these strategies will come to naught if the abaca farmers plight will not be addressed. As a safeguard, in protecting the interests of this sector, their participation in the implementation of the project will be encouraged and given utmost importance, she said.

“The potentials of the abaca industry could never be underestimated. Demand for abaca products both in the domestic and foreign markets continue to rise while products using abaca fiber continue to expand. This trend will further intensify as more and more countries shift to natural, biodegradable and recyclable materials and products,” Tolosa added. [(PNA)LAP/DOC/cbd]

Source: Camarines Sur eyes top slot in abaca production