27/08/2017
PhilFIDA “selling” new abaca fiber trading system to farmers, traders
Abaca farmers must not remain farmers forever; they should become enterpreneurs.
This was the message of Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA) Executive Director Kennedy Costales to local farmers and traders, citing the dream of President Rodrigo Duterte and Sec. Manny Piñol of the Department of Agriculture.
Presenting the Abaca Tuxy Buying Special Project (ATBSP) to farmers and traders from the 11 towns during the Abaca Farmers’ Forum held at Rakdell Inn in Virac last August 8, he assured that the farmers and their respective families will greatly benefit from the said proposed project by easing their arduous labor and tripling their income.
The ATBSP was the outcome of a corporate abaca plantation feasible study conducted way back in 1994, he said. To be implemented to all abaca producing provinces in the country, it seeks to almost double abaca production, from pulp, ropes and cordages, fiber crafts and raw fiber exports, to 162,420 metric tons by 2022.
Recent reports say that the Department of Agriculture seeks P3.2 billion in funding for the development of the abaca industry in 2018, compared to the current P300 million.
In his presentation, Costales bared that the ATBSP is a unique approach where farmers shall organize a cooperative with 50 to 100 members that will be managed by experts in abaca fiber.
Under the project, he disclosed that the traditional 12 steps in processing of abaca will be reduced to 6 steps: topping, tumbling, tuxying, tuxy bundling, tuxy transporting and tuxy trading. It will allow farmers to produce all the abaca tuxies they want for the day before selling it at P5 per kilo to the cooperative the next day. The tuxy is the abaca plant’s leaf sheath or “saha” in the local dialect.
The cooperatives will strip the tuxy through the use of spindle-stripping machine and will sun-dry, classify, bundle and market the fibers directly to local processors and Grading Baling Establishments (GBEs), he explained.
Farmers will be disciplined by being mindful of the quality instead of the quantity of the fiber, the “Abaca Man” said. Between 100 kilos to a maximum of 250 kilos can be sold by the farmer to the cooperative once or twice a week, he added.
On the other hand, the ATBSP will ensure a stable supply of quality abaca required by both local and foreign buyers, said Costales, as the “all-in” buying system which is killing the industry will be eliminated.
For his part, Governor Joseph Cua said that it is about time to use the mechanized stripping, noting that he already introduced the machine stripping to abaca farmers during his previous term.
“Dapat mag-innovate tayo, dapat mag machine stripping kita,” he urged, pointing out that Leyte and Davao are 30 years ahead in using mechanized stripping.
As Catanduanes earns more than 100 million per month in abaca alone, Cua stressed that we cannot afford to lose it because of the benefit it brings to the lives of the people in the province.
With the expected increase in the earnings of the farmers, Cua assured that a chain reaction will occur as it is not just the farmers who will gain from the new approach but also the other sectors, thus resulting in an upsurge in the inclusive growth of the province.
Cua said that the forum is timely, as it would increase the awareness of the farmers regarding the threat to the province’s abaca industry and likewise inform them of the innovations that could help them improve production of the commodity.
He expressed hope that funding for the project will be provided soonest to realize its full implementation in the province. (Gidoemaly T. Romero/ GO Information Unit)
