The Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFida) said the country’s total abaca production this year could grow by as much as 2.73 percent to 75,000 metric tons (MT), from last year’s estimated output of 73,000 MT.
“[Production] this year could reach 73,000 MT to 75,000 MT. The activity of Mayon Volcano would not affect abaca production,” PhilFida Executive Director Kennedy T. Costales told the BusinessMirror.
Costales also revealed that the agency is spending P15 million this year to expand the country’s abaca plantations by at least 1,428 hectares to increase production. He expects output to register increases by 2020 as abaca matures within 18 months to 24 months from planting.
“We have identified new expansion areas, areas in which there have been no abaca plantations, such as Iloilo, Mindoro and in Biliran,” he said. “So, by 2020 you will notice the improvement in production.”
Costales said the agency is still gathering and validating abaca production figures for 2017. He said 2017 output likely reached 73,000 MT, slightly higher than the previous year’s 72,819 MT.
Latest available data from the attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA) showed that the country’s abaca output from January to November registered flat growth and settled at 67,057.65 MT.
Data obtained by the BusinessMirror showed that Bicol remained as the country’s top abaca-producing region during the 11-month period, accounting for 36.56 percent of the total output.
However, the region’s abaca output during the January-to-November period declined by 6.8 percent to 24,517.57 MT, from the 26,316.72 MT recorded in the same period in 2016.
Costales also said the eruption of Mayon Volcano in Albay would not affect the abaca output of the Bicol region this year.
“The activity of Mayon will not affect our total production this year. It will not have any effect at all. I expect the Bicol region’s output to remain the same. However, harvesting may be delayed due to the eruption,” he said.
On an annual basis, abaca production in Albay province during the January-to-November period expanded by 9.5 percent to 2,526.21 MT.
As of January 30, the DA said farmers planting fiber crops, particularly abaca, in Albay have registered production losses amounting to P478,000 due to the eruption of Mayon Volcano.
The DA added that the estimated volume loss was pegged at 6 MT planted in 99 hectares.