Thursday, November 13, 2008 Dole embarks on P15-M rubber project
THE Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) in Southern Mindanao is embarking on a P15-million program that will provide thousands of jobs and great opportunities to farmers in Davao Region.
Jalilo dela Torre, Dole-Southern Mindanao regional director, who guested at the Wednesday's edition of the Club 888 at the Marco Polo Davao, said the program, dubbed as the "Rubber Program of Dole", will run for five years.
"Rubber has a big potential market. China, India, Europe, and US are just among of the markets," dela Torre said, adding that the buying price of rubber is also high at P55 per kilogram.
He added that the program will be launched on December 8.
Dela Torre added that the investment opportunities of the rubber industry will be tackled in the two-day staging of the Mindanao Investment Conference (Min-iCon) on November 25 to 26 at the Marco Polo Davao.
"We are the only region in the country today that has this program. We believe that through this, we can provide and create more jobs," dela Torre said, adding that the rubber industry can generate one to 1.5 jobs per hectare.
He said that Dole-Southern Mindanao's target is to generate 75,000 jobs for the next five years, and initially 37,000 hectares of new farms in the region. But, dela Torre said they could develop more areas should there be commitments from the farmers to plant in the next coming years.
During the Min-iCon, dela Torre said Dole would know how many hectares will be initially developed for rubber production. He said rubber groups and growers were invited to the conference.
However, dela Torre failed to reveal the average level of rubber production in Davao Region and how many jobs were already generated by the industry as of Thursday. (JGRS)
