As early as four o’clock in the morning, Primitiva Francisco of Mawab, Compostela Valley, joins the class on good agricultural practice (GAP) on cacao production.
Although the school started at dawn, there’s no rush on her part, as the lessons are discussed over the radio for her to listen and take down notes right at the comfort of her home.
Francisco is just one of the 550 farmers in Region 11 who recently graduated from the School-on-the-Air (SOA) program of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
“The SOA has taught me a lot about cacao production. Before, we just let our cacao grow on its own, giving us inferior quality. But with the knowledge I gained from the SOA, I can now apply pruning techniques and manage pests and diseases, as well as use the recommended varieties,” she said.
DA Region 11 OIC-Regional Director Ricardo Oñate Jr. said the conduct of SOA is one of the identified priorities of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol, considering the power of radio to reach farmers in far-flung areas.
Speaking during Wednesday’s SOA graduation held in Davao City, Oñate said the conduct of the SOA on GAP on cacao is in line with the current thrust of DA, which, aside from promoting rice self-sufficiency, also promotes high-value crops, like cacao, to increase farmers’ income and generate more jobs.
“The SOA is also timely, as the DA, through its High-Value Crops Development Program [HVCDP], has intensified expansion of cacao areas in the region,” he added.
“We need to ensure that seedling beneficiaries will observe recommended technologies, thus, we require training on cacao production as one of the requirements,” Oñate said, adding that the DA leverage on the power of radio to reach those who could not attend formal training.
DA-HVCDP is targeting expansion of at least 100,000 hectares cacao plantations with 50 million planted cacao trees from 2016 to 2022. The expansion is expected to generate at least 150,000 direct jobs by 2022.
DA Regional HVCDP Coordinator Melani Provido said cacao is given more focused interventions, considering the projected global demand of 1 million metric tons of cacao beans by 2020, which offers huge opportunities to the local cacao farmers.
“Region 11 produces 80 percent of the country’s total cacao production. Our goal is to increase the productivity of cacao trees from 700 grams to at least 2 kilos per tree per harvest,” she said, adding that to meet this goal, local cacao farmers must observe recommended technologies.
“Since GAP is integrated on the SOA on cacao production, this will make the farmers GAP training certified,” Provido said.
To build up the content of SOA on GAP on cacao production, the DA information section has tapped cacao expert, Peter Cruz, as its resource speaker. Cruz has shared his vast experience on cacao farming, starting from being a cacao technician to technical head of a leading buyer of cacao beans for domestic and export markets.
Dr. Rodolfo Estigoy of the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization also shared the latest postharvest technologies for cacao production developed by the center.