Wednesday, January 10, 2007 Fiber agency sees progressive year for abaca in '07 By Joy Romares-Sevilla
THE Fiber Industry Development Authority (Fida) in Southern Mindanao sees a progressive abaca industry this year.
Fida assistant regional director Antonio Doong said the positive outlook for the industry this year can be attributed to the increasing buying price of abaca fibers.
"For the last five years, the buying price of abaca per kilogram is only below P30, but now it has increased because there is growing demand for abaca," Doong said.
The buying price of abaca fiber per kilogram at present is pegged at P45.50, the highest, so far.
Doong also encourages farmers to plant more abaca because of its promising profit.
"We are encouraging farmers especially the indigenous people (IP) to plant abaca because abaca will not grow in an open area, it usually grows at the foot of the mountains where there is a cool atmosphere," Doong explained.
Doong added that Fida has been conducting information drive among IPs for several years now.
"We inform them about the market potential of abaca and its uses, we also give technical training where they could get exact information on how to plant abaca," Doong added.
Meanwhile, Doong said that Fida is continuously implementing its Oplan Sagip Abaca Program, a program that started nationwide for several years now.
"In this program, we have measures on how to treat and eradicate diseases in abaca plants and measures on how to prevent the disease," he said.
Doong claimed that abaca diseases can be acquired from abandoned plantations.
"If the diseases that came from the abandoned plantations are not controlled, it will spread on the new plants," he said.
