Davao City—Extreme weather events are altering agricultural practices as farmers adapt to the changing climate to avoid unnecessary losses.
A pioneer cacao grower here reported that erratic weather patterns may disrupt traditional farming practices and affect the productivity of the crop.
Charita Puentespina, founder of Puentespina Farms which grows and harvests “heirloom” cacaos, said climate change is affecting their production of cacao.
Puentespina’s cacao farm is the source of the internationally acclaimed Malagos Chocolates.
“Nala-late ’yung supposedly meron tayong peak season from November, December January before that we have the low season from May to June parang nawala then ngayon parang sabay marami masyadong harvests, marami masyadong bulaklak,” Puentespina was quoted by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) as saying.
Shesaid the production process has drastically changed. “The application of fertilizer, the program of pruning, the scheduling, it’s no longer the same.”
A common complaint of farmers is heavy rainfall which is increasingly happening during the flowering stage of fruits. The failure of rambutan, mangosteen and lanzones trees to bear fruits in the third quarter was attributed to extreme weather events.
“It [onset of heavy rains] matters because the flowers of the cacao are very tiny and heavy rainfall could affect the flowers,” Puentespina said.
She said climate change and its impact on cacao production would be one of the highlights of the National Cacao Congress which be held here on November 24 and 25 at SMX Convention Center. Puentespina is a member of the Philippine Cacao Industry Assocation.
She said the association would also launch a guide on growing cacao and taking care of cacao trees during the congress.
The PIA dispatch said Dante Muyco Jr., chairperson of the National Cacao Congress Technical Working Group, said among the speakers during the congress would be Bruce Pears from West Australia where he has been implementing successful programs on regenerative agriculture.
“He [Bruce Pears] will be providing us information on plant nutrition and bringing back the nutrition to the soil. I think that is one of the measures we can really address all these problems in production including climate change,” Muyco said.
Image credits: Bloomberg